Love, Loss and Laughter
by over-reacting-by-default
Summary: Isabelle and her family have moved from the States to live with their English cousins. Tessa has just been fostered by the Branwells and Magnus is struggling to raise two children by himself. TMI, TID, TDA. Mostly Sizzy, Wessa and Malec for now but lots of other ships too. AU, AH. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMI, TID, TDA or any of the characters.**

 **Chapter 1**

Isabelle groaned. Why, why, why did her Uncle Benedict have to go mad and end up in hospital? More importantly why did she and her brothers have to come live in England so their parents could look after their cousins when Gideon _was_ eighteen? And last but not least why was there mould on the ceiling above her bed (on which she was  
currently lying)? The mould was a dark mottled green with some particularly black splodges so that if she tilted her head to the left it looked vaguely like a smiley face. A very smug smiley face.

Isabelle doubted she would receive answers to any of her questions, in particular the mouldy one. The first two her parents would spout bull about but the last she was sure no one knew the answer to. Her cousins were rich. Or at least they seemed to be as she had her own new bedroom, rather than sharing with her younger (by a year) cousin Tatiana. If there was damp then her Uncle would have done something about it, but then that brought her back to him being mad.

…

A piercing scream brought Isabelle out of her reverie quite suddenly. She rolled off her bed with another groan and flung the door open. Outside, her cat Church was attacking the fluttering end of an exceedingly long silk scarf that was draped around Tatiana's neck, who screamed again, "Help me! Isabelle! Get that monster off of my scarf! It's designer!"

Stifling a giggle she bent down and grabbed the pet they'd brought with them from the States. The Persian cat always had a permanently disgruntled look to his face but ever since they'd arrived in England Isabelle swore that he'd looked very irritated. Church was exceptionally unimpressed with his new home. Isabelle could relate.

"Izzy?"

She looked up with a smirk, "Yes?"

"It's not funny!" whined Tatiana. Isabelle just raised an eyebrow.

"I mean… Thank You," she sniffed, then continued, "I just don't get how you can like that little beast so much!"

"'The little beast' as you so rudely put has a name. It's Church. And you just need to get to know him better." At which Isabelle held him out towards Tatiana cheekily. But she was only rewarded with a disgusted squeal so she gave up her cousin as hopeless. Then Church scratched and squirmed his way out of her hands before stalking into Isabelle's room and curling up in the bottom of her wardrobe.

Isabelle suddenly noticed a pile of black and white clothes at Tatiana's feet, "What's that?"

"Oh! That's why I'm here. Aunt Maryse asked me to give you these," exclaimed her cousin excitedly before bending down to pick them up by a hanger. On closer inspection Isabelle could identify a black pleated knee-length skirt, a white blouse with a weird collar and a black woollen jumper that was already crackling with static electricity.

"It's your uniform," she continued.

"My what?"

"Your school uniform," Tatiana explained impatiently.

"There is no fu-" Isabelle broke off as she spotted Max had suddenly appeared behind them clutching a comic book. Their mum was very strict about her and Alec not swearing in front of their nine-year-old brother.

"Hi Max!" then she started again, "there is now way I'm wearing _that_ five days a week!"

Tatiana smiled and shoved the unfortunate uniform into her hands, "You have to."

As her cousin walked off she glanced back down at her hands and grimaced before turning to Max, "You ok?"

"Yeah. Mum just thinks Church has run off again," he shrugged.

"Oh no. Church is in my room. I think he's sleeping in my wardrobe." Isabelle turned and shut her door sighing as Max ran off back down the stairs.

…

The next morning Isabelle was up early not wanting to be late for her first day at their new school. Walking down to breakfast she fell in behind Tatiana and upon noticing that her skirt was just as short she rolled hers down in order for her mum not to notice. She could roll it back up later anyway.

She was just about to grab some toast when her eyes fell on Alec and she stopped short! "Why aren't you wearing itchy uniform too?" she demanded.

But Gideon answered instead, "Sixth-formers like Alec and I don't have to. You're only in year 11," he glanced over her shoulder before adding, "like Gabriel."

Isabelle ignored him and continued to glare at Alec who was wearing a pair of dark jeans and an old jumper, although she did notice there were no holes in either of them, as he eyed her outfit focusing on the sequins she'd added with painstaking effort to the collar of her jumper last night, "Nice."

"Just sit down and eat," said Maryse sharply as she swept into the room closely followed by Max, "and roll down that skirt Tatiana!"

"Father never made me roll it down," she retorted.

'Yes but your father was an immoral man with no sense of decency,' thought Isabelle, rolling her eyes, although she didn't say it aloud.

"Where's Uncle Robert?" wondered Gabriel curiously, interrupting the start of a very long and tiresome argument.

"He left early this morning to visit your dad. He's taking the day off work," she explained tersely, "now Gideon, do you have your key… _(He nodded)_ … good. _(She turned to Alec)_ I'm going to get the paint on my way home, can you pick up Max from school? And what colour did you want again?"

"Yes mum, and blue please."

"What shade of blue?"

"I don't know… just blue!"

Isabelle interrupted impatiently, "He wants dark blue. Somewhere between navy and royal. And I want black and glittery gold!"

"Ok. What time does school start?"

"In ten minutes," shrugged Gabriel.

" _What?_ Go! Go! You don't want to be late on your first day! Just take the toast with you! You'll need to run!"

"Bye Izzy. Bye Alec," called Max from his seat.

…

As they jogged to school, Isabelle rolled her skirt back up and tried to concentrate on how to avoid Tatiana all day than the dismally grey sky and the extremely likely impending rain.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews, this is my first fanfic. This chapter is twice as long as the last. Please tell me if you prefer the chapters longer or shorter and whether or not you think I've captured the characters personalities well. Hope you enjoy. Disclaimer: I do not own the Circle Song. Although if you haven't heard it before you should really look it up.**

 **Chapter 2**

 _(Tessa's PoV)_

Tessa Gray stared up at her new home through the dirty car window, gripping her angel necklace tightly with one hand. The large stone townhouse was very different from the small flat she'd lived in with her Aunt Harriet and brother, Nate. She sighed, everything was changing.

"Well? Hurry up and get out girl! I don't have all day," snapped Mrs Black, her evil social worker. Slowly, reluctantly, Tessa climbed out of the car and trudged around to the boot to grab her suitcase. It was quite small. She didn't have much stuff.

"Come along now," barked Mrs Black, who was already marching determinedly up the path to the front door. Hastily wiping away a tear she followed but kept some distance between them, mindful of the social worker's pincer-like grip. Tessa sincerely hoped that her new foster parents, the Branwells, were kind and welcoming.

A noisy clanging sound suddenly rang through the air and she jumped before realising that Mrs Black had merely rang the doorbell. Apprehensively she tried to peer through the windows but was unable to see anything without stepping into the flowerbed.

Then the door opened to reveal a tiny woman with a gentle smile and a tall, gangly man with shockingly ginger hair who looked far too excited just to be meeting a new foster child. Behind them, perched on the banister of the stairs was a pretty young girl. She looked about Tessa's age.

"Hi. You must be Mrs Black," the woman greeted her social worker with a handshake.

"Yes… Mrs Branwell?" returning the handshake with an uncharacteristically bright smile.

"And you must be Theresa? It's nice to meet you," Mrs Branwell turned to her as she was pushed forward by an old, gnarled hand almost causing her to stumble. She certainly hoped it was nice to meet her since they would soon be living together.

"Um… I'd prefer Tessa if you wouldn't mind please… um, Mrs Bra-,"

"Please call me Charlotte," she interrupted.

"… Charlotte," Tessa finished awkwardly.

"And this is Henry and Sophie. Our other foster daughter," added Charlotte motioning to her left and glancing over her shoulder, beckoning the other girl to come forward. All of a sudden she found her hand gripped firmly by Henry and shaken up and down enthusiastically as he said, "I hope you like it here."

She nodded quickly, slightly shaken by the fervent greeting. Then, smiling like the angel she wasn't Mrs Black cleared her throat, "I'm so glad you're all getting on! Now, I just have some paperwork we need to clear up and then I'll leave you to it."

The Branwells looked quite bemused by the sudden turn of events, especially Henry, but Charlotte recovered her composure quickly, "Alright. Why don't you come into the dining-room then, and Sophie, perhaps you could show Tessa her room."

…

"Henry dear, please do pay attention. You've already put jam in your tea there's no need to spread Nutella over the newspaper!" Charlotte admonished the next morning over breakfast. Her husband, who had previously just looked distracted now looked quite flustered, "I'm sorry darling, it's just that this article on the new space probe is so _riveting_."

Sophie bit back a grin as she dug into another pancake. Tessa was too nervous to smile, although she was already feeling surprisingly at home with her new family, today was her first day at her new school. She wished Nate was there but he'd already signed up to the army before their Aunt Harriet died. She knew the army would be good for him since he tended to be ignorant, spoilt and reckless but she still missed him. She also missed her aunt's pancakes, Charlotte's were good but they weren't the same.

"Are you looking forwards to school Tessa?" asked Charlotte. She shrugged half-heartedly and replied, "I'm not sure. There aren't normally many new students at a school in year 11 and everyone will already have their friends, but I'm looking forwards to English."

"Is that your favourite subject?" Sophie looked up.

"Yes. I love to read," she replied simply before adding, "What are you taking for A-levels?"

Sophie was in the year above her. "Er… French, food tech and, I think, art."

"You'll need to leave in five minutes, girls, if you don't want to be late," warned Charlotte. Sophie stood up and began to clear her plate away while Tessa checked for the third time that she had everything she needed. As they made to leave the room Henry waved and said cheerily, "Bye. Have fun," without even glancing up from his paper.

…

Tessa was sitting alone at a table in the middle of the classroom waiting for her maths teacher to arrive. Being alone didn't bother her; she was reading her favourite book, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. She was just getting to the bit where Sydney Carton was about to sacrifice his life so Lucie could be happy when her maths teacher banged the door open. Sighing she slipped the book back into her bag.

"Good morning class. I am Mr. Abbadon and I will be your maths teacher this year. We will be starting with quadratic Nth-terms but first we have two new students who have just joined us. Will Isabelle Lightwood and Theresa Gray please come up to the front and introduce themselves?"

Ok, Tessa definitely didn't like Mr. Abbadon. First he'd interrupted her in the best bit of her book and now she had to talk in front of the class. The one thing that she'd most wished to be able to avoid. Hesitantly she stood up and made her way to the front of the room. The other new girl, Isabelle, was beautiful. She had long, glossy black hair, her jumper was oddly sparkly and her skirt outrageously short. Tessa's grey eyes caught Isabelle's obsidian ones and Isabelle nodded, understanding that Tessa _really_ didn't want to go first.

"Hi. So I'm Isabelle. I've just moved here from the States to live with my cousins, that's Gabriel in the corner over there," she pointed and took a deep breath before continuing with lots of animated gestures, "but you already know him. I have a white Persian cat called Church and two brothers. I like fashion and sport and I think it's really weird that my brothers only like the second one of those things even though they totally go super well together if you want them to."

She looked like she was only pausing for dramatic effect but Mr. Abbadon stopped her there, looking alarmed and surprised that anyone would want to say so much in front of a class on their first day or that it was possible for one to speak so quickly. Then he turned his intense gaze on her.

"I'm Tessa. I've just moved here too, but only from Southampton. I love to read and my favourite book is A Tale of Two Cities."

Thankfully she didn't have to say any more than that because just as she'd started to speak a boy burst noisily into the classroom. Mr. Abbadon was glaring at him murderously so Tessa and Isabelle hurried back to their respective seats. (Isabelle was sitting next to a boy with brown hair, glasses that kept slipping down his nose and a t-shirt that read 'Schrödinger's Cat is Not Dead'.)

"William Herondale! How dare you interrupt my lesson?!" thundered Mr. Abbadon.

"Sorry I'm late sir, I forgot to set my alarm," the boy, William, didn't even flinch once under the murderous glare, Tessa was impressed. Instead he just shook his unruly black hair out of his face, revealing breathtakingly deep blue eyes and met the maths teacher's gaze evenly.

"What do you mean 'late'? You're not part of this class, these students are a year younger than you and I remember with exceptional clarity that last year you assured me you would not be taking mathematics as an A-level."

"Yes, I remember that too sir. But that was before I'd found out I'd failed my maths GCSE. And since it's maths, I have to retake it so unfortunately for you, you have to deal with my _ever_ so troublesome presence in class for a few more months!"

"You _failed_! Go… go awa… I mean go sit down this instance," spluttered Mr. Abbadon and pointed to the empty seat next to Tessa. William sauntered over to the desk and dropped gracefully into his chair as Mr. Abbadon turned to the whiteboard. As soon as he'd turned his back Will leant over and whispered in Tessa's ear, "Hey, I'm Will."

"Tessa."

However as luck would have it Mr. Abbadon had extremely sharp hearing, "One more sound out of you this lesson Herondale and it'll be detention."

In a few minutes everyone had their heads bent over their books and all that could be heard was the scratching of pens and a few quiet groans. Then Will put his hand up abruptly, "Sir? I was wondering if you knew the circle song?"

"How is that relevant to today's work Herondale?" he growled.

"It's not really."

"Then we most definitely do not need you to inflict an awful rendition of it on us, do we?"

"Unfortunately sir, I am inclined to disagree," and with that he stood up on his chair and burst into song,

 _"_ _Here is a circle  
it knows how to get around,  
it has a radius…"_

Tessa had to stuff a fist in her mouth to stop herself from laughing aloud, she didn't want to get in trouble on her first day here. Then she noticed a note that Will must have slipped her before standing up. She opened it subtly while Mr. Abbadon's attention was still elsewhere. It read, _'Wait for me after class.'_ She screwed it up into a ball, slightly confused, obviously he was going to get a detention but what did Will want with _her_? Then she noticed he was still singing,

 _"_ _Pi-r-squared sounds like area to me,  
if I need a circumference I'll just use Pi-d!"_

"WILLIAM HERONDALE! YOU GET DOWN OFF THAT CHAIR THIS INSTANCE! DETENTION FOR BEING LATE AND DISRUPTING THE CLASS! SEE ME AT THE END OF THE LESSON!"

…

Tessa hovered in the corridor outside the classroom at break. She was just wondering how much longer he would be when Will strolled leisurely out of the classroom, "I see you've met one of the Nine Princes of Hell then?"

"Who?"

"One of the nine evil teachers from the maths department," he clarified.

"Oh."

They were walking down the corridor together, or rather Will was walking and Tessa was just following when out of the blue he asked, "You like to read?"

"Yes…. How do you know that?"

"I heard you speak at the start of class. You're favourite book is A Tale of Two Cities?"

"Yes," she replied slightly defensively.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"And your favourite book is by Charles Dickens?"

"That's what I said isn't it," then Tessa collected herself and continued, "I also like the Bronte's. What's your favourite book?"

Will shrugged, "I like Otranto."

"The one where the helmet falls out of the sky," Tessa nodded, then realising she hadn't seen this part of the school yet asked, "Where are we going?"

"The library. I thought you might like to see it, besides it's also one of my favourite places in this school and as far away from the fiery hell that is the maths department as possible!"

"Hell can also be cold," retorted Tessa.

"What?"

"In Dante's Inferno, hell's ninth ring is a frozen wasteland. Hell can be co-… aaaahhhh," Tessa bit back a scream as she tripped at the top of a flight of stairs but before she could tumble forwards an arm wrapped round her waist catching her just in time. Will pulled her backwards causing her to stumble into him as she twisted around. Suddenly they were looking into each other's eyes and she could see that his had darkened. Will's hair had fallen over his face again and Tessa had to resist the irrational urge to push it back. Realising she was blushing and that they were standing in the middle of a corridor Tessa tried to push away but his arm kept her in place as he bent his head towards her and spoke lowly, "A word of advice. The handsome young man who is rescuing you is always right, even if he says the sky is purple and made of hedgehogs!"

Tessa stared at him a while longer thinking him quite mad before he eventually pulled away. They continued their walk to the library as if nothing had happened, she couldn't think of anything to say until they reached the door when she retorted, "I corrected you before you caught me."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes until, inexplicably, his face broke into a wide grin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 _(Alec's PoV)_

Alec was staring out of his classroom window when the final bell of the day rang. It still hadn't rained although the sky had been overcast all day. Quickly he packed up his things and hurried out of his Latin class, mindful that he didn't have long until Max needed to be picked up.

The front of Alicante Academy was packed with students eager to get home after a long first day of school. There were people standing around chatting about the holidays or waiting for buses. He didn't stop though, not to pick up a leaflet from the group of boys handing them out at the gate, not even when someone roared up the drive on a motorbike almost running several people over. He appeared to have very pale skin, had something swinging from a chain around his neck as he lent forward and his leather jacket was undone; flapping in the wind like a bat.

Alec noticed one boy (with golden hair and eyes) staring after him apparently stuck between whether he wanted a ride on the motorbike or if he should be yelling at the reckless rider who'd almost run over his girlfriend (?) after he'd practically yanked her out of the way by her long red hair.

…

The walk to Max's school was short and Alec made good time, they hadn't finished yet. So he dropped his backpack to the ground – how could it be so heavy on only the first day – and leant on the low railing on his forearms.

Hopefully they could get back to the house quickly, he was looking forwards to spending some more time in the house without his dad around. It wasn't that they didn't get on but things had been awkward between them since he'd told his parents that he was gay. Maryse and Robert had both been supportive but he could tell that they, and his dad in particular, didn't really know what to say or think.

In retrospect maybe telling them five minutes after they'd told him, Isabelle and Max that they were moving to England wasn't the best time. In the moment it did though since everyone seemed to be coming out with a revelation that was sure to be met with mixed reactions. His parents the move, Max admitted to finishing off the chocolate ice-cream, Isabelle confessed that she had in fact worn their mother's most precious necklace to a party one month previously (although Alec had already known about that) and himself, that he was gay. That had been three weeks ago, two weeks before they'd moved.

…

Alec sighed and looked around. The school was made out of red brick and there was colourful paint on the surface of the playground; he could make out a hopscotch among the patterns. At one end there were also two small plastic soccer goals. Overall Idris Primary looked a lot more welcoming than Alicante Academy.

"Are you new here?"

He turned around to see another boy a few years older than him standing a couple metres away. He was taller than Alec, which meant he was _really_ tall and his black hair was gelled up into spikes pointing in every direction. When Alec met his eyes he saw they were an unusual greeny-goldy colour that sparkled with life, accentuated by heavy eye-liner and iridescent glitter.

"Yeah," he replied cautiously.

"Hi, I'm Magnus Bane," the older boy let go of the handle of a pushchair he'd been dragging behind him and shifted the blue-eyed toddler he'd been holding with his right arm to his left in order to shake Alec's hand.

"Alec Lightwood," then he noticed Magnus' pushchair was rolling away from them towards a girl with bright silvery-blonde hair, Alec lunged after it as it picked up speed and caught the chair just before it ran into her. She let out a squeak of surprise and jumped backwards.

"Sorry," he muttered although he wasn't really sure what he was apologising for. Then he turned around and pulled the pushchair back to Magnus, who'd just been standing there in shock the entire time.

"Thanks," he said, then winced as he glanced up to see a pair of bright blue-green eyes glaring at him, "Sorry Helen!"

"You'd better be," she replied crossly although her eyes were twinkling with laughter, "how would Tavvy have gotten me home if I was injured. Mark's dealing with some incident Ty had at school, Julian's out with Emma and Livvy and Dru have gone clothes shopping!"

"And Arthur? Is he still not well," asked Magnus quietly. Helen just shook her head, suddenly looking very sombre, she turned away, "I'll see you round Magnus," then in Alec's direction added, "Thanks."

Alec just stood there awkwardly, he had no idea what to say now and apparently neither did Magnus. Luckily they were saved by an unexpected assault of noise on their ears as several dozen kids began to pour out of various doors and started running towards their respective parents or siblings.

Magnus bent down as small boy ran up to him, "Hi Rafe, how was your first day at big school?"

"Ok. But I'm tired now," Alec heard the quiet reply but then Max ran up to him jumping up and down excitedly, "Hey Alec. School here is really fun. All the teachers are nice and they let me read comic books! We did art today and I drew Church but he looks even grumpier than he normally is!"

Alec smiled as looked down at the crumpled piece of paper that was suddenly shoved into his hands, "That's great Max, I'm glad you enjoyed school. Are you ready to go?"

"Do we have to go home? I want to go to the park and play with my new friends," Max whined.

"Sorry, but mum's brought the paint home and we can start with your room," he promised, crossing his finger's that the bribe would distract his little brother. Then he noticed Magnus wrestling the toddler into the wheelchair, begging with him, "Come on Max be good now. Just let me strap you in. You and Rafe can watch TV when we get home."

He was surprised, "Your brother's called Max too?"

Magnus looked up his eyes hardening, Alec shrank back slightly wondering what he'd said wrong when Magnus spoke, "No. These aren't my brothers, they're my kids."

"Oh, sorry… Bye Magnus, see you round," Alec regretted asking now, wondering how he'd managed to mess up a possible friendship so spectacularly.

"Come on Alec lets go. I want to paint my room. Hurry up," Max tugged on his arm.

…

"Bye Alec," said Magnus quietly, but Alec didn't hear him. He regretted being so harsh, it wasn't Alec's fault. He was just tired and it pissed him off when people looked at him, judging him for already having kids. Of course Alec hadn't been looking at him in that condescending manner, he'd just looked surprised. Magnus didn't want to admit to himself but he knew that the reason he'd snapped was that he was embarrassed and he hated himself for that; he didn't want to be embarrassed of his kids. He got to his feet slowly and sighed, "Come on, let's go."

…

Alec and Max burst through the front door and slammed it behind them laughing as they dripped water all over the floor. Five minutes before they'd got home the heavens had opened up and drenched them to the skin, they'd run the rest of the way.

"Don't move!"

Alec looked up alarmed and upon pushing his wet hair out of eyes – an action that sent water droplets flying everywhere – saw their mum frowning at them with her hands on her hips, "I don't want wet footprints tracked throughout the house."

He grinned and started to take of his sodden trainers when in his periphery he saw Max run at Maryse and give her a big hug, "Hi mum! School here is so fun! I'm so glad we moved! Are we painting my room this evening? Let's start now!"

After returning the hug briefly she gently unlocked Max's arms and stepped back, "Oh Max! I'm all soaked now too! But I'm glad you like school and England and yes we can start with your room but first you need to get changed."

"Hey Alec!"

He looked up the stairs to see Isabelle standing at the top wearing old jeans, which was unusual for her, and holding a paintbrush that was dripping black paint onto the carpet. Quickly he bounded up the stairs before their mum noticed.

"Izzy," he warned looking pointedly at the brush.

She followed his gaze confusedly, "Oh shit!"

Alec followed her into her room to see the walls half black and half still a disgusting brown/ yellow/ puke colour.

"You do realise we're painting Max's room first," he asked.

"No. You and mum are painting Max's room first. I'm painting my room," she corrected picking up a roller before looking closely at him, "Why is there water running down your face in little rivulets?"

"Because it's raining outside… did you really not notice?"

She glanced out the window at the ever darkening sky, "Nope… Are you going to the concert on Saturday night?"

"What concert?"

"The one that Simon and his friends are performing were handing out leaflets for at the front gate this afternoon?"

"So _that's_ what they were handing out. Who's Simon?"

"The guy I sit next to in maths. He's part of Sea Vegetable Conspiracy."

"Sea what now?"

"The band, Sea Vegetable Conspiracy. So are you coming?"

"I don't know, it's in two days right?""

"Oh come on, please. It'll be a chance to meet someone other than people our cousins know. I literally couldn't get away from Tatiana and her annoying friends all day, Jessamine and… I can't remember anymore names but all their personalities range from somewhere around seriously irritating to just bitchy. And their conversations were soooooooooo boring!" Isabelle complained.

"All right I'll come. But that doesn't mean I'll be hanging out with you all night."

"Uggh! As if I'd want you to! But YAY!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

"I'm offended!"

They continued to bicker in this fashion for a while but then from the hall they heard a strangled scream, "WHY IS THERE PAINT ON THE CARPET?! ISABELLE?!"

The colour suddenly drained from her face until she was as white as a sheet…

 **A/N: Thank you again for the reviews. Please continue to leave them and any requests you have for a particular character to appear. That said a lot more characters will be appearing in the next couple of chapters. Did the paragraph from Magnus' PoV make sense?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 _(Simon's PoV)_

It was still raining the next morning so Sea Vegetable Conspiracy met in one of the Academy's many music practice rooms.

"Ready for the big performance guys?" asked George cheerfully, he could be cheerful because he wasn't in the band and he was Scottish and it was even rainier up there.

"Absolutely!" replied Matt sarcastically.

"Simon?" George persisted.

"We have to be because if it's a flop, no one'll come to another one for the rest of the year," unfortunately he knew from experience.

"You guys will do great," reassured Maia from the corner where she was leaning against her boyfriend Jordan, the band's lead singer.

Then the door swung open squashing Eric up against the wall – the room wasn't very big – and Simon's best friend Clary walked in followed by Jace.

"Ok, so is this a the-weather's-awful-and-this-room-is-warm-and-cosy-meeting or a we-have-a-gig-tomorrow-at-the-Alto-Bar-and-we've-just-realised-we-haven't-done-enough-practice-meeting?" Clary demanded, her voice suggesting she suspected it was the latter.

"Both," he replied.

"Ah. Does ickle-wickle Dungeon Master have butterflies?" teased Jace, his eyes sparking maliciously, "Oooof!" he grunted as a sharp elbow hit its mark right in the middle of his stomach.

"Be nice," Clary reprimanded him, "You too," she added in Jordan's direction just as he was about to open his mouth angrily, "You know what? We're going. You don't need another dramatic break-up just before a 'big' gig. Come on Jace, see you later Maia," and with a quick wave she was out the door dragging her boyfriend behind her.

"By the way," Jace stuck his head back through the door, "Will told me there's some new Lightworms around!" then they were gone.

"Lightworms?" asked Kirk confused.

"He means the Lightwood's American cousins have moved to town. Probably until their dad gets better," explained Simon.

"And are they as stuck up as their cousins?"

"I've only met Isabelle but she seems nice," Simon shrugged.

"Is she hot?" Eric asked eagerly.

"Way out of your league," replied Simon.

"Even further out of yours then," put in Jordan which earned some sniggers from the rest of the group. Simon scowled at them.

"Would I have a shot?" wondered George. Simon stared, last year he'd heard Beatriz Mendoza call George a 'six-foot-Scottish-sex-God'! Of course he was hot enough to get Isabelle Lightwood to go on a date with him at the very least. Simon on the hand knew Jordan was right, that Isabelle was way out of his league although he sincerely hoped he wasn't below Eric, whose awful poetry could rival Apollo's.

Simon's deep contemplation of the general attractiveness of various people in their year was disrupted when the bell went, grabbing their bags he and George set out for their first class, which after examining their timetables appeared to be history.

…

Simon was getting dressed in one of his customary band t-shirts when his sister Rebecca walked in to his room without warning, the next day at 9:00am. It was almost time for him to go to the Alto Bar and start help setting up even though the gig wasn't until 8 this evening.

"Go away," he choked out.

"Good morning to you too little brother," smiled Rebecca messing up his hair, "don't worry I was just leaving. I'm meeting up with Ella and Catarina, going to see if we can convince Magnus to come to your gig tonight."

Simon groaned, "You're coming!" she raised an eyebrow, "and what about Rafael and Max?"

"Ragnor won't want to go though," explained Rebecca, "he can babysit."

"I thought that the last time Ragnor babysat it was a disaster," Simon tried to remember the story she'd told him a few months ago.

"No. That was the time before last. And it was only a disaster because Rafael was there."

"Isn't Rafael always there?"

"Rafael Santiago. Rafael the first. Magnus and Ragnor's friend who little Rafael was named after," clarified Rebecca.

"Oh," Simon shrugged, "have fun."

"Will do."

…

Simon and George were sitting in the back of Eric's van untangling the mass of electric/ sound cables that never got straightened out except when they had a gig while the others were lugging speakers around and just generally setting up.

They weren't really talking, just concentrated on the task at hand when George started speaking, "So you know Jessamine?"

That was a stupid question, Jessamine was George's twin, "Yeah."

"Well she's friends with Tatiana Lightwood."

Simon had a feeling he knew where this is going, "Mmmm."

"And Tatiana is Isabelle's cousin…"

Simon sighed, "What's your point?"

"You like Isabelle."

"Yeah," he paused, "wait did I say that aloud?"

"Yep!" George grinned.

"Wait. Do you mean you're trying to help me here? You're not interested?"

"Just let me continue. So anyway Jessamine had Tatiana over last night and they dragged Isabelle over too, something along the lines of 'you can't just stay at home and paint your room every night because you haven't got your own friends yet',"

"Ouch!" interjected Simon.

"Yeah. Anyway I also overheard that they're coming to the gig tonight, Isabelle too."

"So you're really trying to help me here?" Simon still couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, I know. But I saw Isabelle last night and decided that she's not my type or at the very least I have a smaller crush on her than you do. So what do you want to do?"

"Um… well first don't tell any of the others, except Jordan he's already got a girlfriend although we'll need to swear him to secrecy. And then… I have literally no idea." He trailed off.

"Neither have I," agreed George, "I'd say just find a chance to talk to her tonight – about anything that isn't too nerdy – or at least before your next maths lesson and if it doesn't go well get Clary to help or just be glad that you had a chance before Eric, Matt and Kirk scare her away!"

Simon nodded but inside he knew that girls like her just didn't go for guys like him and he was about to say so when he heard the others coming back. He and George quickly busied themselves with the mess of wires, could it really be even more tangled now?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _(Isabelle's PoV)_

Isabelle was just about to put on her sparkly new mascara when Alec ran into her room and being unable to stop in time to avoid tripping over several tins of paint went sprawling across the floor in a very undignified manner.

"Hi Alec,"

"What in the Angel's name possessed you to put the paint right in front of the door?!" he yelled as he got to his feet.

She shrugged, "If Tatiana sneaks into my room at night to steal my make-up she'll trip, just like you, and I can catch her red-handed."

"She does that?"

"Not sure, but I'll soon find out. So anyway, what did you want."

"I don't know what to wear!"

"Since when did you care about your clothes?" Isabelle demanded.

"Since I heard Rafael – the guy with the motorbike from my year – say that Magnus might be coming!" he practically wailed.

"Who's Magnus?"

"He's… just someone I met… doesn't matter," Alec blushed bright red.

"Ok, whatever," she said dismissively, "just wear jeans and a hoody… but nice ones. No holes."

"Did I just hear right?" came a disbelieving snigger from the hall followed by Gabriel walking into the room, "Alec cares about what he's wearing to a band performance? A crap band might I add whose members are two years younger than him."

"If the band's so crap, why are you coming?" retorted Isabelle.

"Because… no reason," he stuttered blushing as well. What was it with everyone blushing wondered Isabelle, rolling her eyes. Then Tatiana came skipping through the door, "He's going because Cecily's going," she shared gleefully.

"And if you ask her out Gabriel, Herondale will probably break your arm again," warned Gideon darkly from the doorway, "or at the very least your nose."

"If I'd wanted you all in my room I would have invited you in," Isabelle protested.

"Shut up Isabelle. You too Gideon," if possible Gabriel was even redder now, in fact she thought, he resembled a tomato.

"Who's Herondale?" asked Alec curiously, "and why did he break your arm?"

"Herondale is Cecily's brother, Will," explained Gideon.

"And he should have been the one with the broken arm!" interjected Gabriel angrily.

"Oooohhh! Do tell," Isabelle requested excitedly as she screwed the lid to her mascara back on, unable to concentrate on her make-up. She got up and kneeling down pried the lid off a tin of glittery gold paint, then she grabbed a sponge.

"Please don't," Tatiana begged, which made her ears prick up – what did she have to do in all this? – while Gabriel nodded his head vigorously in agreement.

Luckily for Alec and Isabelle, Gideon ignored them, "So a couple of years ago the school held a Christmas Ball for fundraising and at the time Tatiana had a huge crush on Will. She had this little diary and wrote poems about him in it _(she and Alec grinned)._ And she bought it to the ball and left it lying around on a table. Anyway Will found it and got up on the stage at the end of the hall and read out some of the poems to the entire audience through the microphone. Then Gabriel got up on the stage too and promptly punched him in the nose. Will broke his arm in retaliation and they've hated each other ever since."

"Oh, so it's a blood feud," summed up Isabelle dramatically.

"Basically," agreed Gideon, "which is why Gabriel really shouldn't ask out Cecily Herondale."

"Although it would be like Romeo and Juliet if he did," added Tatiana.

"And who would want that?" asked Alec.

"No one," said Isabelle, "love should never be unrequited."

"But it's so much more romantic," countered Tatiana.

"So does Cecily like you back?" inquired Alec to Gabriel, but he only glowered in return before storming out of the room and slamming the door to his own.

"I'll take that as he doesn't know then," said Alec lightly.

"Nope," said Tatiana then exclaimed as she wandered over to Isabelle's dressing table, "is that mascara sparkly? Can I borrow some? Please?"

"No way!" Isabelle grabbed it and slid it into her pocket, "not until I've found my purple eye-shadow again," she looked at her cousin pointedly who fortunately had the grace to look away but still mumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Alright. Everyone out _. (she started making shooing gestures with her hands)_ OUT! There's only an hour and a half left until we have to go and I still have to do my hair and make-up and change this dress because there's paint on this one now! Gideon go apologise to Gabriel… _(she held up her hand to stop his indignant protests)…_ say whatever you have to stop him sulking, he'll ruin the evening even more otherwise. Alec, go get changed. Tatiana…" but she'd already left.

…

 _(Will's PoV)_

"What time does it start again Cecily?" asked Will impatiently as he sat on her bed while she plaited her hair in front of her mirror.

"Eight o'clock. And you asked me that ten minutes ago!" she noted.

"No I didn't,"

"Yes you did. So why are you so eager for it to begin? Normally you hate Sea Vegetable Conspiracy… although now that I think of it they were called Rock Solid Panda last time they performed."

"No reason," he yawned widely to try and throw her off but distracting Cecily was about impossible when she got started on something; she was like a dog with a bone. Or a duck with a bread crust, Will shuddered inwardly.

"That was a fake yawn. Is there someone you're meeting there? It's not Six-Fingered Nigel is it?" she prodded. He shook his head.

"Oooohhh! Is it a girl? Is there a girl you think is going to be there?" Cecily was excited now.

"Drop it Cecily!" then he winced, that was _way_ to defensive.

"So there is a girl! Is she pretty? Who is it? You actually have a crush on her, you don't just think she's hot and want to mess with her?" then she frowned, "like you have with countless others may I add."

"Yes to the first and second. I'm not answering the third and no to the last," he sighed.

"JACE! KIT! GET IN HERE! I NEED SOME HELP INTERROGATING WILL! HE'S BEING STUBBORN… AGAIN!" she yelled out the door at the top of her voice.

"What's going on?" Jace asked as his cousins ran into the room. Just as Will, Cecily and Ella were unmistakably siblings, Jace and Kit also looked almost identical – their eye colour being the only difference – although they were actually also only cousins. Will's dad had had two brothers Tobias and Stephen but they'd both died a couple years ago in an awful road accident. Now Jace and Kit lived with them.

"First, Jace, help me zip up the back of the my dress. Second, help me get Will to tell us who his crush is," explained Cecily matter-of-factly.

"It's Tessa Gray," shared Kit, his eyes sparking mischievously.

"Who?" asked Jace as Will demanded, "How?"

"The new girl, and I overheard you asking Jem if she'd be at the gig tonight." Kit continued.

"Why were you asking Jem?" Cecily wondered.

"Because I only have maths with Tessa," explained Will reluctantly, knowing that he'd been beaten, "and I don't have maths on Friday and I didn't know about tonight until yesterday and Jem is on speaking terms with Sophie whereas I am not."

"Why does it matter whether or not you're on speaking terms with Sophie?" questioned Jace.

"Because Tessa lives with Sophie," sighed Will.

Then their mum stuck her head round the door, "Why are you all in Cecily's room? There are only her clothes in here and I doubt you boys are going to wear them to the gig tonight. And where's Ella?"

"We were interrogating Will," answered Cecily, "and your right, they are _not and never will_ wear my clothes. Also Ella's out with Rebecca and Catarina, possibly she's at Magnus', we're meeting her there."

"Ok. Well, be back by 11 pm. All of you. Do you understand?" Linette warned.

They all nodded their heads vigorously in her direction with wide and innocent eyes – Will imagined that Cecily and Kit were more convincing than Jace or himself.

"I'll see you later then. And if you're not back by 11, Halloween is cancelled," she threatened. They all nodded again, not daring to speak until she left again.

Jace looked around quickly, "Well. Cecily won't want help with her make-up, the mystery of Will's crush is all cleared up and vicious threats have been handed out by cruel welsh aunts! I think that's my cue to leave and go pick up Clary. See you all later at the bi-annual has-Simon's-sucky-band-improved-yet meeting."

…

(Clary's PoV)

Jocelyn and Luke were watching TV when the doorbell rang.

"Hi Jace!" she said brightly when she opened the door.

"Hey Clary," he replied, "Maia, Jonathon," he nodded to her brother and adoptive sister as they made their way down the stairs.

"Are we all ready to go?" asked Jonathon glancing at everyone.

"Yep," she replied, "Maia?"

"I'm ready."

"No Jordan?" enquired Jace.

"Nope, I'm gonna meet him there."

"And I'll be escorting her," added Jonathon before eying Clary's boyfriend, "while chaperoning you two!"

Clary ignored him, "Bye. We're going now," she stuck her head into the living room.

"Have fun," called Luke.

"Come back as soon as the concert's finished," insisted Jocelyn sternly.

"Yes mum," she rolled her eyes at how different her parents attitudes were. As soon as Maia finished tying her laces Jace offered his arm to her, she took it ignoring Jonathon's glare – why did he have to be so over protective?

"Calm down _Mum_ ," she teased him.

He didn't answer her though, "I mean it Herondale. You'd better look after my little sister."

"You warn me every week and every week I nod, but for the Angel's sake Morgenstern _you're coming with us_ tonight!" Jace as usual was exasperated by her brother.

"Fairchild," he growled. Luke wasn't actually their dad but Valentine had died when Clary was a couple months old, when he'd died Jocelyn had gone back to using their maiden name. Luke was however the one who insisted they adopt Maia when she ran away from her family, in particular her awful older brother Daniel.

"Shut up guys," Clary snapped, "tonight is about Simon not about whether or not I'm old enough to have a boyfriend."

"Does tonight _have_ to be about Simon?" complained Jace.

"YES!" yelled Clary and Maia.

…

 _(Tessa's PoV)_

"Anyone you're looking forwards to seeing tonight?" asked Sophie. Tessa was in her room as they helped each other get ready for the Sea Vegetable Conspiracy 'concert' at the local bar which apparently had an all-ages night every couple of weeks.

"I still don't know many people," she shrugged, "I don't know whether Will will be there."

"Will Herondale?" checked Sophie sharply. She nodded.

"Where'd you meet _him_?"

"I met him on Thursday. He's in my maths class and afterwards he showed me where the library was. Why, don't you like him?"

She shook her head, "I'd stay away from him if I were you. He's trouble… _(Then as an afterthought)…_ his sister Cecily's nice though."

"Will was kind to me on Thursday, I never would have found the library without him," insisted Tessa.

"You and your books! You're not taking one tonight are you?"

Tessa could tell that Sophie was rolling her eyes, "Why don't you like him?"

"Because of this," she pointed to the long scar that ran across one of her cheeks that Tessa had been too scared to ask about.

"Will did that to you!" she exclaimed in horror.

"No," Sophie assured her, "but he reminds me of the boy who did. They have similar personalities."

"What happened?" gasped Tessa aghast, "if it's ok for me to ask?"

"It's ok... My mum was a cleaner and worked for lots of rich people who had these massive houses. One day I was there with her, helping her scrub some floors when the son of the owners of the house came up to me when she wasn't there. Teddy, I think his name was. He asked me out, and I was only fourteen at the time, when I said no he grabbed a knife, we must have been in the kitchen, and cut my face open… He said that 'if he couldn't have me then he'd make sure no one would ever want me.'"

"I'm so sorry,"

"Don't be. Anyway I went to my mum, who went to the boys mum but she insisted that I must have provoked him. We went to the hospital and they did what they could, which wasn't much… My mum died a year later."

Tessa didn't know what to say as she watched a lone tear trickle down Sophie's face. She was glad and surprised that Sophie trusted her in only four days of knowing each other to tell her so much. Information that Tessa knew she'd tell very few people. Hesitantly she put a hand on her shoulder, "Can I tell you about my life?"

…

"Girls, it's time for you to leave," Charlotte called up the stairs.

"Coming," Sophie yelled back. They ran down the stairs together, two at a time, twice as good friends as they had been half an hour earlier.

"Bye Charlotte. Bye Henry," they said as they rushed out the door. Tessa heard a faint "Enjoy the music," from Charlotte and a "Have fun at school," from Henry! She rolled her eyes, almost used to his eccentricities and abominable time-keeping skills by now.

"Let's go make you some new friends," said Sophie as they walked down the street to meet some of her friends at the corner, "and I won't say anything more about Will."

…

 _(Emma's PoV)_

Emma had gone over to Julian's about three hours earlier, now it was almost time to leave for the Alto Bar. They'd spent the afternoon in the usual way; Julian painting and Emma either watching or distracting him, she was very good at distracting him. She still couldn't believe that they were actually together.

At the start of summer break she'd dumped Cameron _(again)_ and had finally kissed Julian on a trip to the beach. They'd gone with Jem and all the Blackthorns but had walked a long way further down the beach until they'd found a little rock pool that Julian had coaxed her into in an attempt to tackle her long standing fear of the sea. What neither of them realized was that the rock pool was open to the sea and the tide had quickly carried her far out before she'd managed to break free, then she'd started to panic. However Julian was a strong swimmer and having taken a safe route to get to her had dragged her out of the water onto the beach. Then they'd found a nice secluded spot among the sand-dunes.

…

A knock came on his bedroom door, it was Helen, "Are you guys almost ready?"

"We'd better be," replied Julian, "Emma's spent at least the last half hour getting ready."

"Alright, I'll see you down stairs in five minutes," Helen walked away.

She threw a pillow at him.

"What?" he asked indignantly, "it's _only_ Rock Solid Panda we're going to see."

"Actually they've changed their name. It's Sea Vegetable Conspiracy now," corrected Emma.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go," Julian grabbed her hand.

Downstairs Helen and Mark already had their shoes on, she was giving instructions to the Livvy, Ty and Dru who were complaining that they couldn't come.

"No. You can't come... you're two young besides someone needs to look after Tavvy… no Livvy, Dru can't do that by herself… look, you can stay up until we get back, watch a movie… no, you have to agree on one together… now, Tavvy's already in bed but if there's any trouble just call me…. Uncle Arthur? No I don't think he'll bother you," she glanced over her shoulder at Julian, "is Uncle Arthur sleeping or in his office?"

"Shit," he almost yelled, "I've forgotten to check on him. Give me a minute."

Emma caught Mark's eye and they grinned at each other, Julian rarely forgot anything. Then she pointed at Helen and mouthed, "Help your sister. We're never going to get going if those three keep all their complaints up!"

…

Another five or ten minutes later they were ready to go. Ty, Livvy and Dru had finally been satisfied with a bribe of chocolate, – from Mark – a promise to film some of the songs so they could see the band – from Julian, who'd also determined that Arthur was sleeping – and a promise to be taught the cup song the next time she came over from Emma – which was likely to be tomorrow – although only Livvy and Dru had really been interested in the last, though why they wanted to learn it so badly she wasn't sure. And Helen had finally managed to extract a promise from each of them that they would not burn the kitchen down, she and Julian trusted no one anymore, not since Mark had nearly done so, with the reasoning that if he could manage it, at 18, they definitely could.

"Where's Jem?" Julian asked Emma.

"When I left he was playing his violin. So he could still be playing or he could be at Will's. He said he'd meet us there," she answered, knowing her brother he probably _was_ still playing.

Then a knock at the door came. She squealed in excitement, "That'll be Christina! Time to go!"

"Hi Emma," Christina greeted her smiling although she could tell something wasn't quite right. As they started to walk the two of them fell behind the others and Christina's brothers Diego and Jaime.

"You ok?" Emma asked.

Christina nodded, "I'm just worried about Diego."

"Zara?" although she was pretty certain of the answer.

"Yeah."

Zara Dearborn was Diego's evil girlfriend. 'Resident Bitch of Alicante Academy No. 1' Emma liked to call her in her head (No. 2 was Camille Belcourt). She knew Christina hated her and she herself wondered what Diego, who was a nice guy if a bit of an idiot, saw in her.

"Don't worry," she squeezed her best friend's shoulders, "it'll be ok and in the meantime let's enjoy tonight. Music and dancing and boys! It's going to be great!"

 **A/N: Emma and Julian are sixteen in this, the same age as Isabelle, Tessa and a load of other characters. Helen and Mark are twins. On a completely unrelated note, does anyone know if it's possible to remove reviews posted by someone with an account, can I report it for abuse even if it's only full of waffle that is utterly irrelevant to the story?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Part 1**

 _(Tessa's PoV)_

"Will's over there if you want to talk to him but come find me later and I'll introduce you to my friends," Sophie whispered in Tessa's ear and pointed to a spot near the side of the small stage as soon as they walked into the Alto Bar. She wondered why Sophie had suddenly stopped objecting to the idea that Will could be a friend before replying, "Thanks."

She slowly picked her way through the crowd until she spotted him speaking to another boy their age. Fortunately, Will saw her before she lost her courage and went to find Sophie.

"Tessa," he waved her over.

"Hi."

"This is my best friend Jem," he introduced the boy he'd been talking too. He had hair as black as Will's but his eyes were also black although they seemed almost silver when they caught the light.

"It's nice to meet you at last," Jem greeted her, "Will's been talking about you none stop since you met in maths on Thursday!"

She went red and mumbled, "It's nice to meet you too," while Will glared at Jem.

Then the guy who sat next to Isabelle in maths came sprinting over and started speaking somewhat breathlessly to Jem, saving them all from a very long and awkward silence, "Listen Jem, the sound isn't working so while we try and fix the problem I was wondering if you could help keep at least, maybe, ten percent of the crowd here?"

"Hi Simon," said Jem.

"Breathe Dungeon Master!" interjected Will.

"That's Jace's nickname for me. Why are you using it?" exclaimed Simon angrily.

"He's my cousin," Will reminded him, "besides how can Jem help you save a crowd that you're more likely to lose when you're playing than when you're not?"

"F- …"

"Shut up Will," Jem cut off Simon before he could even start, "How can I help?"

"I noticed you had your violin with you…"

"Yeah I can play a few songs if you want. Just give me a couple minutes."

Simon nodded and began weaving his way back through the room. Tessa watched him go for a few seconds before paying attention to the conversation again.

"Do you know where Jace is?" Jem asked Will as he peered around.

She saw him grimace before nodding, "Unfortunately yes. I just saw Clary go out the side door into that little alley where everyone dumps broken speakers and stuff and then I saw Jace follow her out… not so subtly either might I add. So trust me when I say you don't want to go out there too."

Jem's face fell slightly, "I was hoping he would duet with me on the keyboard."

"I'll make him join you when he comes back in," Will assured him before adding, "although the sound might be fixed by then."

…

While Jem was getting ready on stage Will turned back to Tessa, "Sorry about that."

"It's ok," she fidgeted with the sleeve of her top.

"No it isn't," he insisted, "I shouldn't have ignored you like that. I'm sorry,"

"Really it's ok," she said again. Then Jem started to play his violin. Tessa thought she'd never heard such a beautiful sound before and stared at him mesmerised by his incredible music.

"He's good isn't he?" Will said it as a statement.

She finally tore her eyes away and turned back to him again in disbelief, "Good? He's brilliant!"

It looked as though he didn't know what to say, then he nodded in agreement.

"Do you play music too?" she asked curiously.

"God no!" he replied… "I know, let's play twenty questions."

"What? Now? Why?"

"Because this is awkward and I think it would be less awkward if we got to know each other," he shrugged, "we don't have to."

"No I don't mind. I'll go first," she decided, "do you have any siblings?"

"I have two sisters. Ella is older than me and Cecily is younger. Also our cousins Jace and Kit live with us, although they're not brothers. You?"

"I have an older brother, Nate. He's in the army now," then Tessa hesitated, "and… um… I guess you could call Sophie my foster sister."

"Ok. My turn."

"No it's not!" she retorted.

"Yes it is," Will insisted, "you just asked me about my siblings."

"And then you asked me back again. It's my turn."

"Fine!" he muttered, "Fire away."

"Actually. You go,"

"Just make your mind up," he exclaimed, "your favourite book character?"

She smiled, glad that he'd managed to bring the conversation back to a topic they both loved, "Sydney Carton."

"Really. Not Mr. Darcy or Mr. Rochester?"

"No. And that's two questions so I should get two in a row as well!" Tessa demanded.

"No you shouldn't. I just wanted some elaboration, which may I point out, you didn't really give."

"If you wanted me to elaborate you asked the wrong question. You should have asked 'why?' not named two other characters. Besides its still two questions," she argued.

Will sighed in defeat and gestured for her to start.

"What scares you most?"

"Ducks," he answered shuddering.

Tessa looked at him hard, she didn't want to waste her next question on asking why though. As she stared at his dazzlingly blue eyes he stared back into her plain grey ones. Neither of them spoke and she noticed his eyes darkening. Suddenly they were close enough to each other that she had to tilt her head back to continue what had possibly become an incredibly intense staring contest. Close enough that she could feel he warmth of his body through his thin t-shirt. His face was shadowed strangely by his hair at this angle, then his eyes flickered away from hers, downwards, so quickly she almost missed it.

"I win," Tessa declared but her voice was low and she smiled. Will tried to protest but she placed a finger over his lips, without even thinking, and shook her head softly. Then she realised it was the first time they had made contact with each other and she took her finger quickly away again.

He smiled too and just as they started to lean towards each other, their magical moment – and Jem's wonderful music – was harshly interrupted by a sudden burst of crackling sound from the speakers as Simon tapped the end of a microphone with considerable force!

"Hi! Hello everyone. Thanks for sticking around while we sorted out a few technical difficulties… and here is our first song," he greeted the room once the crackling died out.

Will sighed and stepped back from Tessa, she thought that maybe his cheeks were a little flushed and suspected that hers were too.

Since the moment was over she decided to ask her second question, "Person who most gets on your nerves?"

He answered immediately "Gabriel Lightworm."

"Who?"

He stood up on his toes and tried to look over people's heads scanning the room. Then he pointed to a tall boy with brown hair and green eyes who was dancing to the music in the middle of the room, "That's Lightworm… I broke his arm once!" he reminisced dreamily.

"What?"

"Oh, it was a while ago," he waved her off still staring at the people who were dancing. Then his expression darkened inexplicably.

"What's wrong Will?" she asked, his furious gaze was terrifying.

"I'm sorry Tessa, can we talk later? There's something I need to deal with."

"What's wrong?" Tessa touched his arm hesitantly.

He turned around, softening his glare and smiled tightly before growling, "He's dancing with Cecily!"

"Who? Gabriel?" she asked.

He nodded once, then swung around and started to shove his way through the crowd towards his sister. Quickly she picked up her bag and hurried off to find Sophie, if Will wanted to talk again later he could come find her.

 **A/N: This chapter was meant to have several points of view in but then this section got a bit longer than I thought it would be and I suspect the others will too so they will be the next chapter. Yes, I** ** _really_** **am dragging out Simon's gig on to** ** _another_** **chapter! Please leave reviews, I'm not entirely sure I liked how this chapter started, how do you think I can improve? Finally, thank you so much to you all for reading my story! :)**


	7. Chapter 6 - Part 2

**Chapter 6 - Part 2**

 _(Isabelle's PoV)_

As soon as Isabelle and Alec walked into the bar their cousins immediately blocked their way. Isabelle glared at them, "What?"

"Just remember," Gideon growled, "Don't make friends with the Lightwoods."

"Wow! So it really is a blood feud," she muttered under her breath before saying at a normal volume, "Why don't you point out who they are to us then. You know, so we don't go and accidently make friends with them!"

Gideon pointed across the room, "That's Will _(to a boy with black hair),_ Jace _(golden hair),_ Kit _(also gold hair but at least two years younger – did they really think she'd be interested?)_ , Cecily and Ella _(both also had black hair)_."

"Ok got it. Stay away from anyone who is ridiculously hot!" she said.

Tatiana nodded, "They _are_ hot but they're also mean!"

Isabelle wondered if her cousin could sound any more like a little girl whose balloon had just floated away, she shook her head in disbelief.

"Exactly," Gideon agreed, "besides they won't be interested in you too. Asides from you being Lightwoods of course, Jace already has a girlfriend, Will prefers one-night-stands and the two girls think they're too good for anyone," he said the first looking at Isabelle and then at Alec for the last part.

"I'm gay!" Alec reminded them indignantly.

"Then you should know that the Herondale boys are most definitely straight," replied Gabriel smirking. Alec opened his mouth angrily and closed it again. Then he turned on his heel and stormed off to find his friends.

"I know!" said Isabelle exasperatedly to her cousins as they turned back to her, "I've got it! Herondales bad! Everyone else good! I don't need to hear it again!"

…

After a little while of searching through the crowd for a familiar face, Isabelle saw Emma, the girl she paired up in PE with. She was standing with a group of girls who she thought she'd seen in her classes at one point or another. 'Well it was better than spending the evening with Tatiana and her friends' she thought as she made her way over to them.

"Hi Isabelle," Emma smiled at her brightly, "these are my friends. Christina, Clary, Maia, Lily, Sophie, Helen and Aline. Guys this is Isabelle."

After a chorus of greetings they all went back to their conversation when Clary waved someone over. She thought it was Simon from maths, he was weird but nice and kinda cute.

"When is the music going to start?" Clary asked.

Simon pushed his glasses back up his nose and ran a hand through his hair before answering, "I don't know. The sound won't work."

Clary sighed, "You're going to lose the crowd if you don't do something soon."

"Yes thank you Fairchild. I am well aware of that," he replied.

"You could ask Jem to play something, I saw he had his violin with him," she suggested.

Simon brightened immediately, "Yeah! That's a good plan. I'll go ask him."

Then he ran off into the crowd towards the opposite side of the stage. Isabelle watched him go until he disappeared and by the time she'd turned back around Clary was also gone, although she thought she seen her red hair whip through the side door that was near them.

…

When Isabelle spotted Simon again she slipped away from the group and started to walk towards him. But just as they neared each other Jem – she thought – started to play. She didn't stop walking but stared awestruck at the stage and consequently crashed into someone.

Luckily she managed to right herself before falling down but as she straightened her dress she saw that it was Simon she'd walked into, and apparently he didn't have such good balance; he was on the floor.

"Sorry," she apologised and offered her hand to help him up but he didn't take it, scrambling to his feet himself, "No it's ok."

Then he put his glasses back on and looked at her properly for the first time, "Oh. H- Hi Isabelle," he stammered, "A- are you o- ok?"

"Of course," she smiled.

"Um, ok. Um… how've you been?"

She thought he was acting weird although since they hadn't actually talked in maths she couldn't be sure, "Yeah, I'm ok… hey, have you done the maths homework yet because I can't do the last question. I've got no idea where to start."

"The answer's three-n-squared-plus-n-minus-5," he replied.

"Wow! Um, ok, cool… thanks. So… do you need any help with sorting out the sound?"

"No, I'm good I mean we're good…. I mean its u- under control."

"… Ok… good,"

"Look… um… I'd better go see i- if the guys have made any progress. It w- was nice talking to you, s- see you round… um, we're going to take song requests later… you know, if there's anything you want t- to hear," he said hesitantly.

She nodded trying not to let her disappointment show – not that she was exactly sure what she was disappointed about, "Sure, that's cool. Bye Simon."

…

Simon mentally kicked himself. For God's sake, he couldn't even hold it together for five minutes and all because of a stupid crush! As he thought of the stammering, stuttering mess he'd just been he groaned. George had tried to help get him a chance with Isabelle and he'd gone and blown it. He'd expected to blow it but he hadn't expected that the only coherent thing he'd say was the answer to a maths problem. He hadn't made any bad star wars jokes but she'd still probably never speak to him again.

…

(Emma's PoV)

Towards the end of the evening Emma left her friends (they wouldn't notice, Isabelle was back and another girl had joined them. She had brown hair, grey eyes and stood next to Sophie quietly) and went to find Julian.

"Hi," she said once she'd found him – in a shadowed corner, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hi," he said back, returning the kiss but to her lips. A few minutes later he asked, "Not that I'm complaining but why've you abandoned you're friends?"

"The band is taking requests now," she explained, removing her arms from around his neck, "I thought we could ask for a Hectic Glow song so you could film it for Ty… that is the band he likes right?"

"Yes, that's a really good idea. I'll go ask," he kissed her again and left.

She continued to watch the band and the people who got up on the side of the stage to give their requests. Then she recognised Zara among them and bristling watched her intently as she ignored George who was taking the requests and stalked past until she was in the middle of the stage, leaning forwards she spoke into the microphone, "My request is Shape of You by Ed Sheeran."

Then she walked to the edge of the stage and jumped off. Emma's jaw dropped as she saw that it wasn't Diego's arms she jumped into, it was Sebastian Verlac's! Unable to tear her eyes away she watched them kiss passionately in front of Christiana's brother who was gaping at them with disbelief along with the rest of the room. When Zara and Sebastian finally broke apart she twisted around in his arms and spat at him spitefully, "Not so _perfect_ after all, were you Diego?"

Everyone continued to stare as he turned and left the bar. The room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. Then Simon awkwardly cleared his throat into the microphone, "The next song is a cover of a song by the Hectic Glow."

Julian got his phone ready to video, Emma hadn't noticed when he'd come back. With the exception of the music the room was still completely silent with shock.

…

(Alec's PoV)

At some point during the evening, he couldn't remember exactly when, Magnus had found him and asked if he'd like to join him and his friends. The room was noisy again when Catarina's phone buzzed.

"Who is it?" Alec asked.

She glanced at him sideways, "Ragnor. He's babysitting Magnus' kids… oh shit! Where's Magnus?"

"I'm here," his glitter was exceedingly more exuberant tonight than it had been two days previously, "what's wrong?"

"Ragnor just texted me," she explained.

"What? Show me," he demanded. Reluctantly Catarina held up the phone for them to see. The message read, ' **There's been an incident. Come quickly. Don't tell Magnus.** '

"I am going to kill him!" he yelled.

"I'm sure there's nothing much the matter," she tried to reassure him.

"He wouldn't have texted you if it wasn't a problem, he'd of texted me. He's texted you which means he didn't want me to know so it's obviously a problem. And one he can't deal with by himself," Magnus was really mad.

"I wonder if Rafael is over there," Catarina mused.

"No. Rafael's dancing with Lily, over _there_ ," Alec pointed.

"I'll see you tomorrow guys," Magnus muttered as he strode away. Alec looked at Catarina – who was already melting into the crowd – and then towards Magnus' retreating back.

…

"Hey! Magnus! Wait up!" Alec yelled after him as he burst into the street. Seeing Magnus slow his pace noticeably he ran after him.

"Alec, now's really not a good time," he said tiredly.

"Just let me come and help," he pleaded, wondering why this suddenly mattered so much to him, "I'm good with kids. I can help while you yell at Ragnor. Please."

"Ok," Magnus relented sighing, "but you have no idea what you're getting yourself in for."

…

Alec followed Magnus into the sixth-floor apartment and looked around, it wasn't that big although he suspected that the toys scattered everywhere had something to do with that.

"Catarina?" the voice came from the next room, sounding hopeful. He and Magnus followed it.

"Hello Ragnor. Having a good time?" Magnus greeted him.

"Oh, it's you."

"Daddy!" Rafe ran across the room, Magnus bent down and hugged him then picked up Max too.

"What's that Rafe?" he asked looking at a plaster on his hand, looked up and quickly glared at Ragnor and looked back down again.

"Me and Ragnor were making rice-crispy-treats but I touched the pan and it was hot so I burnt myself?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Not any more. Ragnor made me run it under cold water for ten minutes and when the rice-crispy-treats were cold enough we ate them. I think sugar makes everything better!"

"Did Ragnor tell you that?" he asked suspiciously.

"No," Rafe shook his head, "he said that sugar is bad but I think he's wrong!"

Then Magnus turned his attention to Max, "What about you?"

Max showed him his thumb, which also had a plaster on, in answer.

"What happened?"

Rafe answered for him, "We were doing colouring and Max tried to sharpen a pencil."

"Did you sharpen your thumb instead?"

Max nodded, "It hurts."

Magnus bent his head and tenderly kissed his younger son's thumb, "There, all better now! Come on, it's time to go to bed."

Alec glanced at the clock on the wall, it said it was quarter to eleven, probably long past their bedtime. Then he looked back to Ragnor who was staring at him. He could hear Magnus reading a book to his kids in the next room.

"Who are you?" asked Ragnor rudely.

"A friend."

…

Ten minutes later Magnus reappeared looking weary, "They're asleep. Ragnor, get out. We can talk tomorrow… and by the way, that was two incidents, not one."

Ragnor looked down at his feet, "Actually, the incident I texted Catarina about was Chairman Meow," he nodded to the tiny cat asleep on the sofa. He was lying on his back with his feet in the air, "he ate some of the rice-crispy-treats."

"You texted about my cat _pretending_ to be dead _(he scooped him up)_ but ignored the fact that both of my children injured themselves under your watch! You're unbelievable!" Magnus yelled – Alec suspected he was considering throwing Chairman Meow at him.

Ragnor opened his mouth to speak but Magnus cut him off, "FUCK OFF RAGNOR."

…

After Ragnor left Alec was left awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, he motioned to the door, "I guess I should go too…"

"No," said Magnus, "I mean, I'd like you to stay a bit if you want."

Alec nodded, "Sure," he sat down on the sofa next to Magnus. They sat in silence until he screwed up the courage to speak again, "You're a really great dad, you know?"

He glanced over, "Thanks but I'm not."

Alec shook his head, "You are."

A couple minutes later Magnus spoke, "You're probably wondering why I was so short with you last Thursday."

Alec shrugged, "I can guess,"

"You can?"

"You didn't like me assuming that Rafael and Max were your brothers' right?"

"No. That's not it, I was annoyed at myself because I was embarrassed that they're my kids." he explained. Alec didn't say anything.

"I'm not a good dad. A good dad wouldn't be embarrassed. I hate myself so much for that. I love them but they don't deserve me," he continued.

"Actually, what they don't deserve is a dad that loves them any less than you do. You love them so much, so unconditionally and you put them before everything else. I don't think it's possible to be a bad dad if you do that… Anything else that you feel doesn't matter," he finished self-consciously.

"You're right," Magnus replied slowly, "Thanks Alec."

"Don't mention it… um, I'm er guessing that you're judged a lot for having kids young. I get how you feel."

Magnus nodded, then looked at him hard, "I thought you were eighteen."

"I am. But age doesn't make a difference if you're gay," he shrugged. It was weird, he thought, how easy it seemed telling Magnus compared to telling his family.

"I guess that's true," Magnus agreed.

"How old are you?" Alec asked after a moment.

They looked each other in the eyes and if suddenly reaching an agreement he started talking, "I'm twenty-one. When I was fifteen I started dating my now-ex-girlfriend. When we were sixteen she got pregnant. We had Rafe just after we finished our GCSEs. He lived with her and her parents. He never stayed with me, I lived in a foster home.

We agreed that I would take my A-levels while she looked after Rafe, she didn't mind – she'd always hated school. I don't think her parents really liked our arrangements but they got slightly friendlier once we turned eighteen, that's when we got this place. I'd had a job since I was sixteen and the moment I finished my exams I started working full time.

I didn't see her much or Rafe but we were doing ok… until almost two years ago now. She got pregnant again. Her parents were really angry this time, which she didn't like seeing as she was actually an adult that time, I didn't blame them. Anyway, four months after Max was born she moved out, dumped me. I haven't seen her or her parents since and she's never once called to see how the boys are doing. Catarina calls her my evil-ex-girlfriend."

Alec didn't know what to say, he just stared. Magnus had been looking at his feet most of the time he'd been talking but now he looked up at Alec as if seeking assurance that he'd done the right thing, "Say something, please," he thought he saw tears glistening in Magnus' eyes.

"I think you're the strongest person I've ever met, you're incredibly brave," he paused, "and I'm seriously considering punching you if you ever say that Rafael and Max deserve someone better again."

Magnus smiled weakly, then he stood up and walked into the kitchen. He came back holding a sticky tin and picked his way back through the minefield of toys that were spread across the floor, unfortunately he still stepped on a piece of Lego ("Fuck") and sat down holding out the tin towards Alec, "Rice-crispy-treat?" he asked.

"Yes please,"

"Thank you for listening," said Magnus as they dug into the sticky, sweet mess.

"That's what friends are for," replied Alec. Then he cringed, it sounded so cheesy.

He smiled excitedly, "You've forgiven me for Thursday?"

"Of course."

Alec glanced at Magnus as he continued to eat, his glitter was coming off, his eyes looked tired, and even his spiky hair seemed to be drooping slightly. He didn't mind though, Alec thought he still looked beautiful. Wait what? He didn't actually just think that did he? He thought back over the last couple of days and realised that maybe he did have a bit of a crush on his friend. But that was bad… Magnus would never be interested in him in a million years.

Feeling awkward he cleared his throat, "Um, I'm really sorry, but it's later than I realised and I have to go."

He thought Magnus looked disappointed, "Ok."

They both stood up and just as Alec was about to turn and leave Magnus asked, "Is Alec short for something?"

He looked back, "Yeah. Alexander. But no one calls me that except my parents when they're annoyed at me for staying out too late!"

Magnus smiled, "I won't keep you any longer then. Goodnight," then he leant forwards. Alec stayed frozen in shock watching but as their lips touched he closed his eyes. The kiss was gentle and soft, he could feel Magnus smiling against his mouth.

It didn't last long and when Magnus pulled away he whispered, "What was that for?"

"I've been wanting to kiss you all evening," he admitted, "and it was to say thank you… again."

"But I didn't do anything," Alec protested although inside he was jumping for joy that maybe Magnus might possibly feel the same way as him.

"Yes you did. You came here and then you stayed and listened. No one's ever done that before, at least no one I haven't been friends with for years."

Alec smiled.

Then Magnus continued, taking one of Alec's hands in his own and brushing his other thumb gently across his cheek, "Alexander Lightwood, will you go on a date with me?"

"Yes."

 **A/N: It's the first day of the summer holidays! But it's raining and I have nothing else two do. Hope you Enjoy :)**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 _(Tessa's PoV)_

Tessa had got up early on Tuesday so she could go to the library before school started. Of course now she was here she could hardly keep her eyes open never mind find what she was looking for.

"You're in a library, why do you look so irritated."

She jumped then swung around to see Will leaning against the bookshelf behind her with his bag at his feet. He was grinning at her widely.

"It's hardly eight in the morning, why do you look so cheerful?" she retorted.

"I don't have maths today," he shrugged.

"Good for you," she replied yawning, "what do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

She sighed, "You were late to maths on Friday and yesterday and your detention with Mr. Abbadon is this morning first thing in your free period. If you couldn't be bothered to be on time to your least favourite lesson why would you be on time to your detention? … You have work to hand in but can't do it so you've come in early to find someone to help you with it so you don't get in even more trouble for not doing it. So which bit are you stuck on?"

Will stared, then reluctantly admitted, "All of it," then added, "And Sherlock… you're not going to find what you're looking for here."

"And what am I looking for?"

"I'll help you find it if you help me with my maths,"

"Please stop being so cryptic."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her, eyes sparkling with amusement, with a half-smile.

She groaned, "Fine. But maths second because it'll take forever."

"Your lack of faith in me is hurtful," he put his hand to his heart.

"You're a terrible actor."

"See what I mean,"

"WILL!"

"Sssshhh! It's a library!"

Tessa glared at him.

"Ok, follow me," then he picked up his bag and grabbing her hand lead her deeper into the library.

…

They stopped in front of an ancient bookshelf stuffed with thick books that had yellowed pages and dog-eared corners, many were losing their gold-embossed covers. The only light came from an oil lamp – why was there an oil lamp? It was the 21st Century for God's sake – that stood on a rickety table. Dropping her bag to the floor she took it and gingerly held it up in an attempt to cast the light a little further while she searched out a title she recognised. Then something on the floor caught her eye as she moved, bending down she saw it was a strip of masking tape with 'Classics' written on it in black sharpie. It had fallen from where it'd been stuck to the shelf, a poor replacement for the little laminated cards that normally denoted what section of the library you were in.

Tessa swung around and glared at Will indignantly, he hadn't moved and she suspected he'd just been watching her.

He held up his hands, "What have I done?"

"Why are all of these wonderful books in a shadowy corner of the library which has obviously not seen the light of day for twenty years?"

"The same reason you couldn't find what you were looking for earlier."

"That's not an answer," she said throwing up arms in despair.

Will smiled wryly, sadly, "No one reads these books anymore and I'd thank you to stop swinging that lamp around so wildly – one spark escapes and the whole place will go up in flames."

"Sorry. But why does no one read them?" as she spoke he lent back against a shelf again and she was unable to prevent a gasp escaping her.

"Don't worry, these shelves aren't as decrepit as they look, they won't collapse on us... and I asked my sisters and cousins that. Apparently they are, quote unquote, 'boring'."

"How could anyone think that? Can't we talk to the librarian, ask her to put them someplace else?"

"Already asked Madam Pince. She said that 'the current location of the classic books adds atmosphere and context'. Honestly, I think that you, she and I are the only ones in the school aware of these books' existence."

She smiled in agreement. Then he turned and scanned the shelves. Tessa watched him out the corner of her eyes as stood up on his toes and grabbed a book from the top shelf. He blew the dust and cobwebs off the old volume and handed it to her.

"Pride and Prejudice!" she looked up surprised, "How did you know what I was looking for?"

"You were searching in the 'A' section, Austen is the first classic author that came to mind and Pride and Prejudice is probably her most famous book. Mind you, I'm surprised you don't have your own copy."

"I've misplaced it,"

"You mean you've lost it," he grinned.

"No. I've misplaced it. Lost suggests I'll never find it again."

"And you think you will find it again,"

"Of course,"

Then Tessa heard music, beautiful violin music coming through the walls. She looked at Will questioningly. He nodded, "Yeah, that's Jem practising."

Then they a heard a deafening bang – a door being slammed she thought.

"And that'll be Madam Pince going to tell him to stop… I've never understood why the music department is next to the library,"

"At least it's not the gym," she said.

"True," he looked at her a while then held out his hand, "will you give me the honour of this dance Miss Bennet?"

"I will Mr. Darcy," she put her hand in his.

…

They continued to dance, even after the music stopped until Tessa tripped on his bag as she stepped backwards. Will caught her and pulled her back upright but didn't let go. His hand remained on her waist and hers on his shoulder. They looked at each other in the dim light, hidden from the eyes of the prying world among the gloomy shadows.

"That's the second time I've saved you," he murmured in her ear. Tessa could feel his breath brush along her cheek as he turned his head to meet her eyes again. Slowly he reached up with his other hand and gently tucked the lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face back behind her ear.

"Tessa, say something."

Then she realised she'd been staring at his lips and quickly glanced back up to his midnight blue eyes. Her heart was pounding in her chest but slowly she stood up on her tip-toes leaning towards him as he bent towards her.

But just as their lips were about to meet Will shoved her away roughly. She slammed back into the bookshelf so hard tears sprang to her eyes, "Will?"

He glared at her, eyes hard and cold, "I can't do this… I'm sorry."

Then, swinging his bag over his shoulders he dashed away through the maze of books. Tessa stared after him wondering what she could have done to cause such cruelty and viciousness, she was certain he'd wanted the kiss as much as she had. Silently crying she slid gradually down the bookshelf and hugged her knees to her chest.

…

After indulging in tears for a few minutes Tessa wiped her eyes and picking up the copy of Pride and Prejudice trudged out of the library just as the bell went. There was no one she could ask as to which direction Will had gone in, although she wasn't sure she wanted to see him right now anyway. She would have asked Hermione, one of the girls from her English class who was always in the library too but she wasn't at her usual table and Madam Pince just wasn't an option. Aside from being terrifying she was currently involved in what appeared to be a very riveting conversation with the school caretaker.

…

Tessa only managed to drag herself out of bed the next morning because she had English after lunch but after picking at her breakfast she was ready to go back to bed and continue making her mental list of comparisons between Will and Mr. Darcy, so far she had:

They're both very protective of their little sisters.

Both have annoying mindless girls throwing themselves at them to no avail. And…

Both inexplicably ignore the girl they like and (she was pretty sure) want to kiss.

But apparently that wasn't going to happen.

…

As she and Sophie walked towards school she kept her head down and pretended to find the pavement unusually interesting.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Nothing."

"Not looking forwards to school?"

"No."

"But you have English today."

"I also have maths," she sighed.

"How's Will?"

"No idea,"

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why are you being so negative?"

"I'm not being nega-," she stopped when Sophie raised her eyebrow, "ok, maybe I am being a bit negative."

"A bit! More like very."

"If I let you say 'I told you so' will you leave me alone?"

"Oh… I'm sorry Tessa,"

"It's ok, I didn't mean to snap."

They were at school by then so Sophie hugged her and took off in the opposite direction, but Tessa saw her smile and wave once she got halfway to the door.

…

After maths Tessa was surprised to see Isabelle run to catch up with her in the hall, "Hi, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tessa replied, "you look happy."

Isabelle was in fact smiling so widely it looked painful, "I finally got through a conversation with Simon without him stuttering through it like George the 5th!"

"It's George the 6th," she corrected her absentmindedly.

"No. George the 5th was the King during the war and he had to give a speech or something," Isabelle insisted.

"George the 5th was King in WW1 and I'm sure he did have to give speeches but it was George the 6th who was King in WW2 who had a stammer."

"Whatever, anyway Simon and I are meeting up later, but what I wanted to ask you is what happened between you and Will?"

"I'm not actually sure. One minute we friends, next we're not," Tessa didn't know why it was easier to speak to Isabelle than Sophie about Will.

"You can come sit with us at lunch if you want," Isabelle offered.

"Who's us?"

"Oh, people who you met at the gig… you were there right? … Emma, Clary, Maia etc."

"Sure," Tessa agreed.

"What do you have next?"

"History,"

"Same! … You know, other than it not being Biology, you and Will practically recreated that super awkward scene in Twilight where Bella and Edward first meet!"

Tessa shuddered inwardly, "What do I have to do to stop me from reminding you of twilight?"

"Don't like that movie?"

"Never seen the movie, don't like the book."

"Mmmm," Isabelle agreed, "sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you or anything, it was just a comparison."

"I know, it's ok,"

"It's just, you're new to town, and he's not…"

"So are you," Tessa interrupted but Isabelle shushed her and continued, "He sat as far away from you as possible, neither of you talked once, he glared at his book the whole time and left as soon as the bell went."

"Please stop talking!" she begged her.

…

Tessa was walking home by herself when she heard someone shout her name but she didn't recognise the voice so she ignored it. Then she heard footsteps behind her, getting faster and louder. She wasn't sure why but it was making her panic so she sped up her pace and wished that Sophie didn't have artwork she needed to finish before coming home.

Suddenly an arm was thrown around her shoulders as the person running after her caught up. Tessa pulled away quickly and spun around to glare angrily at the older boy. She wasn't surprised to see that he went to Alicante Academy too as she hadn't quite reached the corner of the road, where the school stood, yet.

"Leave me alone," she told him, then continued walking.

He hurried to catch up, "What's wrong Tessa?"

"It's Theresa to you,"

"Huh?"

"Only my friends call me Tessa,"

"I'm your friend,"

Just as she was about to turn the corner he span around to face her and cut her off, almost causing her to walk into him. Hastily she took a step back "No you're not. I've never seen you before in my life and the fact that you're stopping me from going home when I'm exhausted and hungry means you will _never_ be my friend."

"I'm sure I can change your mind, Tessa," he winked.

She gagged inwardly, "Who are you again?"

"The name's Mortmain, Axel Mortmain," he paused, "will you go on a date with me?"

"Never in a million years," Tessa replied as she wondered if it would be unreasonable to kick him in the balls.

"Why not?" he asked, "I promise I'll show you a good time."

"Because I've only just met you and I already hate your guts. You ignore everything I say, use awful pick-up lines that aren't even really pick-up lines and you're a really disgusting human being," she spat.

Then Tessa quickly side-stepped him and started to run home. She skipped her plan about kicking him because if she'd stayed a moment longer he'd have seen the tears that were now falling freely down her face. She could never bear for anyone to see her cry, much less the people who caused the tears to see them. As she ran she replayed the conversation in her head and mentally berated herself, 'you really need to get some better come-backs'. She thought for a moment that Will could help but then she remembered that they were no longer friends and as that realisation crushed her once more she forgot momentarily about Axel.

…

The next day was just as bad. Tessa was cornered by Axel and some of his friends during morning break. He asked her out again as the others stood round and laughed. Fortunately though, that encounter didn't last too long as the friend with white blond hair and bottomless black eyes insisted that there were other people they just _had_ to go and torment as well, and it couldn't possibly wait until lunch, so he dragged Axel away.

…

Tessa spent the first half of lunch with Isabelle and some other girls again but when she saw Will walking out of the canteen she left their table hurriedly and ran after him.

"Will! Wait," she called after him. He didn't stop.

" _Will_ ," she was practically sprinting by now and was unprepared for him to spin around abruptly, as she skidded to a halt she twisted her ankle and fell while suppressing a strangled yell of pain.

Tessa looked up to see amusement dancing in his eyes but upon a second glance she saw the amusement become cold and mocking. Will made no move to help her up – and now that she thought about it he probably could have caught her too – just turned around and continued on his way.

As he neared the corner he stopped, didn't turn around but spoke, "I thought I'd made myself clear Tessa. We're not friends, we never were or will be. I just needed help with my maths and you were the closest person to hand… and you might want to be careful or you'll become one of those girls who are annoying, mindless and needy, who are always running after boys without a hope… I never thought you were like them, like Tatiana Blackthorn or Jessamine Lovelace for example, but apparently I was wrong."

…

 _(Jem's PoV)_

Jem was walking out of his usual music practice room half an hour after school finished on Friday when he almost knocked down someone coming out of the library, next door.

"Sorry," he said, then he noticed it was Tessa although her head was down and her long hair was hiding her face as she mumbled something in return.

"Are you ok Tessa?" he asked concerned. She looked up in shock, obviously she hadn't realised it was him. She was clutching a book to her chest and there were tear tracks down her cheeks, "I'm ok Jem," she replied quietly.

"No you're not," then he put a hand on her shoulder, ignored it when she flinched, and gently guided her back into the practice room to the piano stool. He closed the door and sat down next to her.

Then Jem realised that he had no plan past that, he didn't know what to say, but the silence wasn't too awkward. It surprised him when Tessa rested her head against his shoulder but he put an arm round hers in return.

"You're Will's best friend, right?" she asked so softly he almost didn't hear her.

"Yes,"

"Then do you know why," she hesitated, "why he hates me?"

Jem was shocked, "But he doesn't hate you!"

Then he realised he was missing something when Tessa lifted her head and looked at him sadly, "Yes he does."

"Is that why you're crying?" he asked gently as another tear ran down her face.

She wiped it away roughly with the back of her hand, "I _hate_ crying… and Will's half the reason, yes."

"I can talk to him," Jem offered although he had no idea what he'd say. Tessa just shrugged then leant back against his shoulder again. They continued to sit in silence, he didn't want to intrude on her too much although he was curious as to the other reason that she was crying.

"Do you know Axel Mortmain?"

"He's in my year," he looked at her although she was still looking at her hands, "we're hardly friends though. How do you know him?"

"He somehow knew my name and actively sought me out," she explained. Then Jem realised she was shaking, he tightened his hold on her shoulder slightly.

"You don't have to tell me," he said.

"I know… but I need to tell someone."

Then she recounted the events of the last couple days. He didn't interrupt her once, not even when she told him what happened that day during lunch.

…

(Flashback – Tessa's PoV)

 _Tessa had just walked out of Geography when she heard_ him _call her name. She sped up, dodging through the crowds in the hall as fast as she could but_ he _still caught up with her. Then_ he _grabbed her arm and pulled her towards a door. 'No, no, no!' she thought, this couldn't be happening, she wasn't ready for another 'conversation' with_ him _. She was panicking, it was the first time that_ he'd _touched her and now_ he'd _locked the door to the empty classroom behind them._

 _"_ _Will you go out with me?"_

 _She shook her head and tried to open the door but_ he _blocked her way, "I'll let you go have lunch if you say you'll go out with me."_

 _Tessa shook her head again, she didn't trust herself to speak without saying something she'd regret later, either something embarrassingly pathetic or worse something that would make_ him _angry;_ he'd _almost hit her yesterday during break._ He _would have only that was when his friend stopped_ him _, saying not_ yet _and they needed to go._

 _"_ _Fine, we won't talk then,"_ he _said before grabbing her and pinning her back against the wall next to the door._ He _held both her wrists in one hand above her head and crushed his lip down on hers._ He _had his other hand on her shoulder, keeping her against the wall but she could feel it moving lower. She bit his lip, HARD._

He _stumbled away from her, wiping his mouth. It was already swelling and when_ he _saw the blood on his hand_ he _yelled, "Look what you did to me you_ bitch _. I'll get you for this…"_

 _But she didn't hear the rest of his cursing and threats because her trembling hands had undone the lock and she was running blindly through the school halls with no idea of where she was going, knowing only that she had to get away._

 _Somehow she found her way to the library, where she curled up on the floor besides the 'Classics' shelf, where no one ever looked. Exhausted she fell asleep and didn't wake up again for almost four hours when the hauntingly beautiful but sad music that had been the background for the last half hour of her dreams stopped._

 **A/N: The next update will probably come sooner. This one took a little longer than usual because I spent four days without Wi-Fi. Disclaimer: Tessa and Isabelle's views on Twilight are entirely the characters own and do not represent my opinions on the series.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: This chapter starts the Monday after Simon's gig; five days before the last chapter finished.**

 **Chapter 8**

 _(Isabelle's PoV)_

"Move," Isabelle poked Gabriel in the back as he was blocking the way to the stairs.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You're in the way and I want breakfast before school starts."

"Right," he stepped closer to the mirror that hung at the top of the stairs that he'd been peering into.

Isabelle started to walk past him but three steps down she paused and looked over her shoulder, "Ok, two things… first I didn't poke you in the back that hard. Second, I know you're vain but I swear you've been standing in front of that mirror since I woke up!"

"I have a bruise on my back," he shrugged, then winced, "and I was wondering if you had anything that could cover this up," he pointed to his black eye.

She sighed, then turned around and grabbing his wrist lead her cousin into her room.

"Sit down," she pointed to her bed and started looking for what she needed, "why couldn't you ask your sister?"

Gabriel just raised an eyebrow at the question.

"Yeah, good point," she agreed, sitting down next to him and crossing her legs, "ok look at me and close your eyes."

"I can't look at you and close my eyes."

"Face me and close your eyes then Mr. Pedantic."

"Hi Isabelle, I can pick Max up from school today," Alec poked his head through the door.

She glanced over at him and accidently poked Gabriel's face a bit too hard as she got distracted.

"Sure," she told her brother as Gabriel yelled in pain.

"It's your own fault for dancing with her," Alec told him.

"Cecily doesn't like Will's over-protectiveness either,"

"Does that make a difference?" Isabelle asked.

"Yes! Tatiana told me that she'd be very disappointed in me if I never warned anyone taking her out to look after her properly. She expects me to be over-protective,"

"You needed telling?"

"No… Can we talk about something else please?"

"Sure. Let's talk about how you're rubbish at fighting," she suggested.

"Actually, he's ok, I saw him beat Gideon in about a minute the other day," Alec interjected, "and he's practically twice Gabriel's size."

"Why are you siding with him on this? That wasn't a real fight besides there's evidence here that says otherwise," Isabelle pointed at her cousin's face.

"What evidence?" asked Alec.

"This black eye," she answered impatiently.

"What black eye?" he asked innocently. She looked at Gabriel's face only to see that while they'd been talking she'd subconsciously finished covering it up, "Oh."

Gabriel stood up then and she took her chance to poke him in the back again and when he yelped in pain said, "See. Evidence."

…

Isabelle sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she took her head out of her locker and stood up straight again. Her locker was a complete mess even though it was only the second week of term, not that she was planning on tidying it up any earlier than Christmas. Deciding that she could survive without her pencil sharpener for one afternoon she slammed the door shut, locked it and leaned back against it dramatically while quietly groaning.

"Hi… are you Gabriel's cousin?" a girl about her age had appeared out of nowhere. She had long black hair like Isabelle's own and bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm Isabelle," she replied cautiously.

"Cecily," the girl introduced herself.

"As in Cecily Herondale?"

"The one and only," she smiled.

Isabelle frowned, "Your brother beat up my cousin."

"I tried to stop him," Cecily said apologetically.

"No, no it's ok, I don't mind. I mean it's none of my business," she said quickly just about managing not to add 'Gabriel can be an asshole – he probably deserved it' as she wasn't certain whether or not Cecily liked him.

Cecily nodded, hesitating, probably debating if she should ask the question she obviously wanted to ask in the first place, "Do you know if Gabriel likes me? Or if he just danced with me on Saturday to annoy Will?"

"Well… he definitely did succeed at annoying Will," Isabelle noticed her face start to fall and before she turned away continued, "No, no. Wait, stop… Gabriel does like you. He really does. And annoying Will wasn't like a bonus to dancing with you or anything… he couldn't really avoid it though could he? I mean he was willing to risk being humiliated in front of everyone there just to dance with you. Which means Gabriel _really_ likes you because he _hates_ being humiliated like that."

"Then why did he purposely avoid looking at me when I passed him in the corridor earlier?"

"Did he look down or away from you?"

"Away,"

"To the left or right?"

"Left."

"The make-up I put on his face must have come off quicker than I thought," she sighed.

"What?"

"He was just trying to stop you from seeing his black eye,"

"Why would he do that?" Cecily asked confused.

"I did already say that his pride was badly damaged on Saturday, didn't I?"

Cecily scowled, "I'm going to find Will this instant and kill him!"

"And that's probably the other reason Gabriel didn't look at you," Isabelle said quietly.

"Huh?"

"He wouldn't want you to get even madder at your brother on his behalf,"

Cecily considered that for a moment, "MMmmmm, well, nice talking to you Isabelle. See you round."

"Wait," she called.

"Yes," Cecily turned round

"Is there no way you could convince Will to let you go out with Gabriel if you wanted to?"

"You have obviously never met my brother. He _hates_ Gabriel. Also you must not have an older brother because you've obviously never had to convince anyone to stop being over-protective."

"Actually, Alec did try and intimidate the first guy I ever went out with… I'm not sure whether or not he was successful though cause I shut him up pretty quick and ever since when he tries to tell me to 'be careful' he stands at least a couple metres away," she contradicted her.

"Oh, how did you manage that?" she sounded impressed.

"I elbowed him in the face," Isabelle shrugged.

"Ok, I'll try that. Thanks, bye."

…

Isabelle reached her seat in maths precisely three seconds before the bell went and five seconds before Will strolled casually through the door. Fortunately this earned her only a glare from Mr. Abbadon, her demonic maths teacher, before he started yelling at Will. This gave her chance to study him though and the physical similarities between him and Cecily – who'd she'd seen a few times since first meeting her three days previously – were striking and immediately obvious.

When Mr. Abbadon started taking the register though she turned her attention to the boy next to her. Simon was doodling in his exercise book, she looked over his shoulder to see a mixture of lyrics and musical notes.

Then she whispered in his ear, "Stop doodling. He's almost finished the register."

"Nah, I'll be ok," he replied quietly.

"Simon Lewis this is your final warning, if you speak again this lesson it'll be detention."

"Sorry," Isabelle mouthed at him.

"It's ok… although that wasn't a final warning – that was a first warning."

"What's that Lewis?"

"Nothing sir,"

"Good, keep it that way. Unless you want to share something with the class or answer a mathematical-related-question. Do you think you can do that?"

Simon looked very much like he did want to repeat himself aloud but he shook his head vigorously instead.

…

Half way through the lesson, when everyone was concentrated on the extremely confusing algebra Simon passed her a note.

Simon: **What are you doing tonight?**

Isabelle: **Demon maths teacher will notice and you'll get detention.**

Simon: **No he won't. Abbadon is totally focused on some** ** _very important_** **marking, he won't look up until the bell goes or someone talks.**

Isabelle: **Nothing then. Why?**

Simon: **Do you want to watch a film? At mine?**

Isabelle: **Like a date?**

Simon: **If you like. Or as friends if you don't.**

Isabelle: **Sure.**

Simon: **Really?**

Isabelle: **I like romances if they're not too sappy and action/ adventures if the good guys win and the bad guys lose, and stay dead.**

Simon: **Ok, I've got the perfect film pla** -

She stopped him writing as she hissed under her breath, "Do some maths."

Isabelle (a few minutes later): **you said he wouldn't look up!**

Simon: **Sorry.**

Isabelle: **That's** ** _all_** **you're going to say** _(she crossed out that last word and replaced it)_ **write?**

Simon: **So I was wrong. Sue me!**

Isabelle: **Alright I will, but in the meantime, what film?**

Simon: **It's a surprise.**

Isabelle: **Tell me.**

Simon: **No.**

Isabelle: **Pleeeaaase!**

Simon: **You'll have to wait and see.**

Isabelle: **Fine.**

Then the bell rang and they could finally speak and while she couldn't be bothered to write an argument she was perfectly happy to have one normally, "What film Simon? Please tell me."

He ignored her and scribbled something down on the back of the piece of paper they'd been writing on, then handed it to her, "Here's my address and instructions of how to get from your house to mine."

"Thanks," she paused, "how do you know where I live?"

He held his hands up as if surrendering, "I promise I'm not a stalker… your cousins had a big party to celebrate the end of school at the start of the summer and my friends forced me to come."

"Ok… you can put your hands down now. What time should I come over?"

"Um, I have band practice so, about… six thirty. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, that's great. See you later then."

"Bye Isabelle."

Then she ran out of the classroom with a huge grin on her face. She wanted to catch up Tessa before she disappeared. Despite being mostly distracted with their written conversation and date (?), she had noticed that Tessa was looking quite miserable. They weren't really friends but so what?

…

Isabelle groaned silently in boredom. It was only five thirty and Tatiana had insisted that she join her and her friends in her room. She hated them all and couldn't wait to escape. For now though she had to endure a mind-numbingly boring conversation about which boys they like, while sitting in a corner hoping they would continue to ignore her.

"So who do you like Camille?" asked Tatiana.

"Ralf Scott. You?" Camille had very pale blond hair and unusual reddish brown eyes.

"Rupert Blackthorn," Tatiana blushed slightly. 'So that was who she was staring at Saturday thought Isabelle, the mystery cleared up. She'd make sure to tell Gideon and Gabriel. Or if Tatiana didn't want to tell her brothers she could threaten to tell them in order to get her missing make-up back.

"How's Sebastian?" Jessamine asked Zara. They might be at the Lightwood's house but Zara was clearly the ring-leader of the group.

"He's great," she replied, "Diego was hot and all but Sebastian is cleverer… and just better in every way! And Jessamine, I noticed that you like Diego and I don't mind if you want to date him."

Jessamine smiled back. She'd obviously been refraining from revealing her crush, scared of what Zara would say – definitely the leader.

"Who do you like Kaelie?" wondered Julie.

"Jace. I used to think he might be interested but then he started Clary," she replied crossly.

"Yeah. He's definitely too good for her," Beatrice agreed.

"Do you like him too?" asked Kaelie. (Isabelle sighed again in impatient boredom.)

"Oh no. I like, um, I like your brother, Jessamine."

"You like George?" she checked incredulously.

Beatrice nodded, "Yeah."

Then Isabelle checked the time on her phone, it was just past six – time for her to go – she stood up, "Well, it was nice meeting you all _('not' she thought)_ but I have to go now."

"How come?" asked Tatiana disappointed.

"I'm meeting a friend,"

"Who?" demanded Zara.

"I don't see that it's any of your business but I'm going over to Clary's," Isabelle was definitely not going to tell them about Simon, she'd never met girls who gossiped more. And she thought she remembered Clary saying she lived next door to Simon, so if anyone was still around when she got back then she would be coming from the right direction.

"You did hear us just discussing that Clary stole Jace from Kaelie, didn't you?" Julie sounded disbelieving.

"Yeah, so? It didn't sound like they were dating exclusively."

"That's not the point," said Tatiana.

"What's the point then?" Isabelle was starting to get irritated, she was going to be late.

"We don't like Clary," Jessamine clarified.

"And?"

"And you can't be friends with someone who isn't friends with your friends especially if they stole one of those friends' boyfriends," finished Zara.

"I don't agree with the first and would agree with the second only it doesn't apply to me because _I'm not your friend_."

Then she walked out and slammed the door for effect.

…

She was just tying the laces of her boots when she notice Alec coming out of the kitchen, a sandwich in hand.

She looked at him curiously for a moment, trying to work out what seemed off about him. Then she realised, "Ok Alec, you've been smiling all week, which is weird enough but your grin is currently reaching your ears. Why?"

"Don't tell anyone. I'm going on a date with Magnus tomorrow."

"Cool. How'd you meet him?"

"Picking Max up from school. And he was at the gig, remember?"

"Uh huh… wait, so that's why you've been picking up Max on my days. And that's who you disappeared with during the gig?"

He nodded somewhat sheepishly. Then she saw the time, "Shit! I've got to go… I'll be back in a couple hours, 'k Alec?"

"Have fun."

Just as she was walking out the door she glanced back to Alec's back, which was retreating up the stairs and called after him, "I'll be expecting lots of juicy details!"

He ignored her.

…

She knocked on the door and it was opened by Simon holding a massive bowl of popcorn, "Hey Isabelle. Come in." His hair was adorably messy and his glasses were crooked.

"Hi Simon. How was band practice?" she stepped past him and took off her jacket.

"We didn't really get much done. We never do, but now George has joined we do even less," he closed the door.

"You announced he was joining at the gig, didn't you?" she checked, following him into his living room.

"Yeah, we spent most of today arguing over a new band name." They sat down on his sofa (the bowl of popcorn between them).

"Did you decide on one?"

"Eventually. We're now called Lawn Chair Crisis."

Isabelle took a handful of popcorn, she didn't know how to respond so she changed the subject, "What are we watching?"

"Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope."

…

 **A/N: Sorry - not - for the slight cliff-hanger. We will get back to Sizzy's movie-date but the next chapter will be Malec as I realise at least half of this was quite filler-ish. As always reviews are nice and super motivating.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 _(Alec's PoV)_

Alec was fidgeting in front of his wardrobe when Isabelle found him after school on Friday. He couldn't decide what to wear for his date with Magnus. Normally he didn't care what he wore but he was pretty sure this was one of those occasions where you could wear just _anything_. On the other hand, he really did not want to ask Isabelle for help, while she always looked gorgeous herself he didn't entirely trust her fashion advice. Not after last time. But he didn't want to dwell on that.

Then she waved her hand in front of his face, from her seat on his bed, "Hello? Anyone there? Earth to Mars, are you receiving?"

"What are you doing?" Alec asked confusedly.

"I've been here for the last practically five minutes. And in that time you didn't say anything. You just stared at me. It was creepy, I swear you only blinked, like, three times. What were you thinking about?"

"The last time I listened to your advice on what to wear," he replied, sitting down next to her. Then he kicked himself, 'Why did he say that?', now she'd work out the problem twice as quickly.

"So, you need my advice again? YAY! I've been waiting years for the day you would forgive me…" Isabelle exclaimed excitedly.

Alec interrupted quickly, "I have not forgiven you for that. And it wasn't even a year ago, don't exaggerate." He wasn't sure why he said that though, Izzy always exaggerated – it was just what she does.

"But you still want my advice now, right?" she checked.

He shrugged non-committedly, he wasn't sure.

"It's for your date with Magnus, isn't it?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, I saw him at the gig last Saturday. I think you should put some glitter on and find something colourful to wear."

"No,"

"Yeah, I guess we might have some difficulty with that," Isabelle mused, "I mean, I've got glitter but you aren't wearing my clothes and you don't own anything colourful."

"Still no," Alec knew that if last Saturday was anything to go by then Magnus would look fabulous. But would he mind that much if Alec just wore what he wore last week? But no, Alec wanted to make an effort. He really liked Magnus and he wouldn't be able to look him in the eye if he just wore his favourite hoody.

"Ugh! Stop it Alec," Isabelle scolded him.

"What did I do?" he asked, he _hadn't_ done anything.

"I can practically _see_ all those angsty thoughts you're thinking."

"You can't see thoughts, Izzy."

"Stop thinking and help me find you something halfway decent to wear," she opened his closet and started searching through it. He stood up and crossed the room to look over her shoulder, "What about that?" he pointed to the first top he could see.

"NO… Alec, you _really_ need to…"

"Update my wardrobe?" he finished for her, "Yes, Izzy. I know. You tell me every week."

"Well, where are you going on your date? That might help," she ignored him.

"I don't know! Magnus is keeping it a surprise," he almost wailed in despair, "all I know is I'm meeting him at Taki's Diner at five-thirty."

"Stop with the dramatics, big brother. That's my job and being a drama queen doesn't suit you… just call Magnus where you're going so you know what to wear."

He protested, "Magnus will never tell me."

Isabelle picked up a pair of scissors from his desk, "Call him or I will attack your favourite hoody with these scissors," she tried to tug the hoody from his back.

Alec pushed her away and slowly pulled out of his phone and rang Magnus' number.

He picked up on the last ring, "Why hello Alexander! What can I do for you?"

"Um… where are we going tonight?"

"I told you," he replied reproachfully, "it's a surprise! ... _(Quieter)_ No Rafe! You may not get out the Lego now…"

"It's just, I don't what I should wear,"

"Whatever you wear will be perfect, don't worry about it… sorry Alec, give me a moment, Max needs something."

Alec took advantage of the pause to turn to Isabelle, "See. I told you so. He won't tell me."

Isabelle glared at him, "You're not even trying. Give me that," she grabbed his phone before he could stop her, "Hi, Magnus? This is Isabelle, Alec's sister… yes… look, why don't you tell me where you're going… I promise I won't tell him… and then I can tell him what to wear…. Oh wow, that sounds great… yes I promise… ok, bye then."

"What did he say?"

"I promised I wouldn't say. Didn't you hear me?" she turned back to the closet and pulled out some clothes, throwing them on the bed, "here, these'll do. Don't forget to brush your hair and teeth. You need to leave in fifteen minutes, I'll see you later," she walked to the door.

"Wait,"

"What?"

"These clothes seem quite smart for a diner."

"You're going somewhere afterwards too. Duh. Bye," and with that Isabelle walked out.

Alec sighed as he looked at the clothes. His sister had picked a pair of almost black but actually very dark blue jeans – without holes – an extremely pale grey shirt, but no tie so he decided he could leave the top button or two undone and a black jacket. He was left on his own to figure out shoes, although that was probably safer now that he thought about it.

…

As Alec opened the door to Taki's he realised he wasn't nervous anymore, he was just looking forward to seeing Magnus again. He looked around the diner and in the far corner booth spotted him. As he wound his way round a few tables he saw that Magnus was still wearing glitter but his ensemble was tamer than last Saturday's in general so they must be going somewhere much nicer after dinner.

"Hi Magnus," he greeted him as he slid into the booth.

"Alexander. I would say 'at last' but I've just realised that I was in fact early and you are not late,"

"And I would tell you that my name is 'Alec' but I've been telling you all week and I have resigned myself to the fact that you will blatantly ignore my pleas forever."

"A wise attitude indeed," Magnus smiled, "shall we share pancakes?"

"For dinner?"

"Pleeaase," Magnus widened his green-gold eyes and looked pleadingly at Alec.

Alec tried to stop himself from snorting in amusement, "You'll have to do better than that."

Magnus narrowed his eyes immediately, "If we can't have pancakes I won't tell you where we're going, you'll have to wait until we get there."

"Fine."

"I knew you'd come round, besides Taki's makes the best pancakes in the world."

After they'd ordered Magnus reached into his pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper then laid them on the table, pushing them towards Alec. On closer inspection, he saw they were tickets. Tickets to…

"What's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time?"

"It's a play…"

"About?"

"No spoilers."

"But. But you already kept where we are going a secret," Alec knew that his protests were pathetically weak.

"But you know now," Magnus easily countered him, "Besides that was a surprise. Not spoilers."

Soon after the pancakes arrived and although Alec would never admit it, they probably were the best pancakes he'd ever tasted.

…

"We made it."

Alec and Magnus slid into their seats just as the lights started to dim. He looked around the theatre curiously in the few seconds before the curtains swung open. They were sat right at the front of the dress circle – some of the best seats in the house. Alec glanced over at Magnus, he smiled back but Alec wished he could see his eyes, although in this gloom he could barely make out the ostentatious decorations on the private boxes lining the sides of the theatre.

…

As the curtains swung closed for the interval Alec turned Magnus, half-preoccupied by the incredible play and half by how to say what he wanted to say without offending Magnus. He doubted it was really possible to avoid offense though seeing as he didn't think it was the kind of thing you were meant to ask on a date.

Fortunately Magnus saved him from immediate awkwardness, "What do you think?"

"It was… different," he managed, hoping that didn't sound like he didn't like because he did, it was just kind of hard to explain.

Magnus seemed to know what he meant though, smiling knowingly, sometimes the three years between them seemed like eons at least until he asked, "Ice cream?"

"Please," Alec smiled back.

"Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry?" Magnus rattled off the flavours quickly.

"Chocolate."

…

"What do you want to ask me Alexander?" Magnus licked the chocolate ice cream off his little plastic spoon.

"Huh?"

"Oh, please! It's obvious something is on your mind. Tell me."

"Um… erm… well… uh, Magnus…" he stuttered, scrambling for the right words.

"You're wondering how I got us the best seats in the house?"

Alec stared.

"Don't worry about it."

"But I… um…"

Alexander. Do you really think I would spend an arm and a leg on a first date?"

"Um, no."

"No. I spend an arm and a leg on my second dates. Normally I only loose a toe for first ones!"

"Ok…"

Then Magnus explained that the tickets were free because he'd quit his job. Which sounds wrong but he had been costume maintainer (and hopefully one day designer) for the show but was leaving for the Lion King, which apparently had more interesting costumes than just normal clothes. A Slightly-Closer-to-My-Dream job. The seats were a leaving gift from the theatre manager as Magnus had never seen the show from anywhere but the wings before and he'd been working at the theatre for five years. Selling ice creams here was his first ever job.

And they'd gone to Taki's first because Magnus hadn't wanted their date to be completely a gift from someone else. But Alec didn't care about that once he discovered that a week and a half ago he hadn't even been planning on coming tonight at all because all of his other friends had already seen it and you can't go to the theatre alone.

He didn't really know what to say, even less so than before. He guessed he felt ashamed for thinking that Magnus would spend so much on a date (if the West End and Broadway were anything alike) with Rafael and Max at home. It didn't matter at all that he had in fact spent very little because the theatre obviously meant so much to him and Alec could see just how important a last night like this was. He could also see that Magnus cared just as much about what Alec thought of him as the other way round, which again, he realised was idiotic of him not to consider.

Eventually, as the lights once again dimmed for the second act, he forced himself to look into Magnus' brilliant shining eyes, "Sorry."

Magnus smiled softly, "It doesn't matter."

Alec kind of hated how forgiving and understanding he was. He flushed hotly with anger – at himself of course although dimly he was relieved the flush had not come from embarrassment – and insisted, "Yes it does."

He didn't answer immediately though, instead leaning forwards and brushing back the few annoying strands of hair that always fell across Alec's face at the most inconvenient moments.

Their eyes never broke contact, not even when the play started again, not until Magnus' eyes suddenly darted down to his lips. His hand was still cupping Alec's cheek as he murmured, "When are you going to learn that arguing with me is fruitless, Alexander?"

Then he pressed his lips to Alec's. Gently, carefully kissing him. The kiss didn't last as long as Alec would have liked. Magnus didn't pull away any more than a millimetre – or maybe two.

"Never," then Alec quickly put a hand on his shoulder and closed the – admittedly already almost non-existent – distance between them once wasn't a fan of PDA but the theatre was oddly quite empty but as the kiss deepened Alec found he didn't care.

…

When the play ended Alec stood up and held out a hand to Magnus to pull him up too. As they walked out onto the almost dark street Magnus grabbed his hand, "I think that was the best ever first date I've had."

Alec smiled, "Definitely the best first ever date."

It was the first time he'd seen Magnus look truly surprised and Alec just couldn't help but burst into laughter.

 **A/N: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time has no real significance to the story other than it's a play I've seen that I absolutely loved. Sorry for the long update, it shouldn't be as long until the next one. If you spot any mistakes in this please tell me, after not posting for so long I'm impatient and can't be bothered to proof-read properly. Hope you enjoy and please review.**


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 _(Emma's PoV)_

Emma was walking down the street to the Blackthorn's house after school. She dumped her unbelievably heavy bag at home first though, it wasn't much of a detour. That also gave her a chance to abandon the itchy uniform and throw some jeans and a t-shirt on.

As she reached the house a movement in the small tree in the front garden caught her eye. Turning into the gate she peered up through the leaves to see that Mark was perched on a branch that didn't look like it should be able to hold his weight. He beckoned to her to join him so she climbed up swiftly and sat opposite.

"You're probably wondering why I'm sitting in the tree?" he started.

"Just a little," although it wasn't that unusual compared to some of the things that had happened in the Blackthorn household. 'How was it even possible to get flour on literally every surface of the kitchen?' she wondered again, remembering the day a couple weeks ago when she and Julian had walked in there after spending hours in his studio to find flour on the ceiling as well as inside the oven and fridge. Naturally, there was no one else around.

"I'm watching everyone who arrives at and leaves the house," Mark continued.

"Ok, stalker. Why?" Emma was curious.

"Because my brothers and sisters are all expecting people over and I'm trying to make sure that in the chaos, Rupert doesn't try and have any of his friends over."

Rupert was the Blackthorn's cousin who was living with them while his parents were travelling for a year. His friends weren't exactly friendly though so Mark couldn't blame him for trying to keep his little brothers and sisters away from them. Just one of them could wreak havoc anywhere so the entire gang would probably destroy the place. The boys toilets at school were proof enough of that according to her brother and Julian, Emma wouldn't know, she'd never seen for herself.

Emma had only met Rupert a couple of times. Since Mark and Helen had forbidden him to have his friends over he was out most of the time, with Sebastian and his gang in town or at one of their houses.

"So who are you expecting?"

With difficulty Mark pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. Smoothing it out he read the list, "Well you and Christina, obviously. Wait, where is Christina? I thought she'd be coming with you?"

"Oh no. She can't make it anymore," she replied, "don't know why… I might go over there later."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? It's really hard to keep track of everyone in the first place, never mind when they change their plans!" he complained.

"Get used to it, _stalker_. It's part of the job," she said impatiently, "who else?"

"Whatever… and please stop calling me that," he begged.

"Calling you what? 'Stalker'?"

"Yes."

"You want me to call you 'stalker'?"

"No."

"But a second ago you did. If you don't stop changing your mind you'll become a hypocrite."

"Just don't call me 'stalker'."

"Can I call you Fairy Boy?"

" **NO!** … Wh-why would y-you e-even want to ca-call me that?" he spluttered.

Emma shrugged. He glared at her. She smiled back.

"Anyway, Helen's expecting Aline at some point…"

"You don't sound very happy about that," Emma observed, "have they kissed yet?"

"I'm not. And no."

"Why. And why?"

"Because Aline is the single child of a wealthy family and it's actually the first time Helen's invited her over here and Helen's worrying about what she'll think of home with all the kids and everything."

"Well that's stupid. Aline won't care,"

"I know. I tried telling Helen that but she won't listen."

"And why haven't they kissed yet?"

"How am I meant to know?"

"I don't know. Twin telepathy."

"For one, that doesn't exist. And two, if it did, I would hope those kinds of thoughts would not be telepathically accessible."

"I guess," she agreed.

Then Mark changed the topic, "Anyway, Kieran's also coming over. He's going to help me keep track of everyone,"

"You mean 'stalk' everyone," Emma interrupted.

He ignored her, "And Magnus Bane is dropping off Max and Rafael later. He's got a date or something, I just hope Julian takes care of the baby-sitting. And you never know what Livvy, Ty, Dru or even Tavvy for that matter, are going to do so it's going to be hectic tonight."

"Yeah," she agreed, then checked, "So when you say Kieran, do you mean Kieran Hunter?"

"How many other Kieran's are there?" Mark demanded, then flushed hotly.

"Aww, do you have a crush on him?" she teased again.

"Shut up Emma!"

"Gladly," then she leapt out of the tree landing lightly on the balls of feet and crossed the miniscule front garden in five long steps. Just as she opened the door she glanced back over her shoulder and called, "See you later Mark. And by the way, my phone's dead so I'm going to miss Jem's text on when to get back for dinner so he'll probably be stopping by later, to drag me home again."

Emma could hear Mark cursing her as she closed the door.

...

She was bounding up the stairs of the house that was like a second home to her, taking them two at a time when she almost knocked Dru over. Quickly righting herself she grabbed Julian's little sister by the arm to prevent her toppling down onto the hard wooden floor.

"Sorry, didn't see you there."

Dru bent down and picked up the book she'd dropped and hugged it to her chest, "That's ok, I wasn't looking where I was going either."

"What book are you reading?" Emma knew that she was really into horror at the moment so it didn't surprise her to hear, "Frankenstein," in response.

"Is it any good?"

Don't know. I was just reading the blurb when we crashed into each other."

"You were reading and walking down the stairs at the same time?"

"Please don't give me a lecture about how that's irresponsible and dangerous, I get those enough."

Emma smiled, "I wasn't going to. It just makes me feel slightly better that you could have fallen down the stairs even if I hadn't crashed into you."

"Oh."

"Yeah… it's really quiet, where is everyone?"

"Julian's painting in his room,"

She interrupted, "Not the studio?"

Dru shook her head, "Nope. Livvy is with Tavvy, they're playing games on the computer and Ty is in his room with the lizard he found in the gard-" she quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and stared at Emma in horror, "I shouldn't have said that… Please don't tell Julian."

"I won't," she assured her, "Where's Helen?"

"She and Aline aren't back yet. So you can't tell her either. I don't know where Mark is but he won't mind and Uncle Arthur…" she shrugged.

"I don't think Julian would mind either," Emma said.

…

Julian's door was cracked open so she slipped inside silently to find his back to her. He was repainting part of the fairy-tale mural on the far wall. She crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around him leaning her head against the back of his shoulder.

"Hey. I didn't hear you come in," he didn't turn around.

"I know,"

"You scared me,"

"No I didn't,"

"I still almost painted a massive red streak across the blue sky,"

"Not my fault,"

He set down his paintbrush and the plate with the paints on that he was using as a palette and turned around. Emma moved so her arms were looped around the back of Julian's neck while he placed his hands on her waist, "I disagree entirely."

"You could just turn the red streak into a shooting star or something."

"That would have been a disaster! Besides, there is no shooting star in Sleeping Beauty. It would make the mural inaccurate."

"But it's fictional."

"I thought you were the one who always insisted that 'all the stories are true'."

Emma rolled her eyes. 'When would he let it go?' she wondered. Just because she'd spent almost a year waiting for her letter from Hogwarts does not mean that she still believed it was real, even if she wished it were.

"Shooting stars are awesome. They would make any story better," she retorted.

"Just admit it, Emma."

"Admit what? Julian."

"That it would have been a disaster and it would have been _your_ fault."

She stood up on her tip-toes in order to better be able to look him in the eye – when had he grown so much? She used to be the taller one! Staring into his brilliant green-blue eyes she fought to stay focused, "No."

Julian very obviously stared at her lips, then tilting his head slightly to the side, leant forwards. As his lips ghosted over hers he murmured, "Just admit it Emma. You know you want to. Please."

With all of the self-control she could muster Emma pulled away. She almost laughed when she saw Julian looking after her forlornly as she sat on his bed, "I'll kiss you when you say that it isn't my fault you almost ruined your mural."

"Never!" she almost missed his smirk before he leapt onto the bed next to her and started tickling her ribs. Emma squealed but Julian wouldn't let her roll away, "Stop… stop…. Julian! … I'll do… anything. Just… please stop!" she could hardly breath she was laughing so hard, never mind talk.

"You won't kiss me until I stop accusing you so I won't stop tickling you until you admit that it was your fault that my mural was almost ruined."

"Ok… ok… I will… just stop first," she agreed pushing Julian off of her and standing up. She pulled him up after her and keeping a hold on his hands stared into his eyes and solemnly said, "Julian, I am very sorry…"

"For…" he prompted her to carry on.

Emma turned away and quickly grabbing the paintbrush with the red paint on the end, painted a heart on the blue sky. Coming back to stand in front of Julian she apologised, "I am very sorry for ruining your mural."

Julian just stared at her. Was he in shock? She waved her hand in front of his face, "Say something?"

"But it wasn't and now it is."

She rolled her eyes, "Something that makes sense perhaps."

"If I'd known you'd actually ruin it I wouldn't have tickled you."

"Yes, but you did and I wasn't about to apologise for something I didn't do… so I did something I would have to apologise for."

"That doesn't really make sense either but can I kiss you now?"

She didn't reply, just stepped forwards and crushed her lips to his. Julian's arms came around her immediately, one tangling in her long hair and the other on her back, pressing her closer to him. Emma's arms were back round his neck, she parted their lips…

"Aarrgghh! My eyes! My eyes!"

Emma broke off the kiss as she heard Jem yell but she stayed in Julian's arms, "Why didn't you knock?" she asked exasperatedly.

"The door was open," he shrugged, "trust me, I didn't plan on walking in on a passionate make-out session."

From the corner of her eye, Emma could see that Julian was slightly red but she ignored the comment, "No one asked you to walk in here."

"I repeat, the door was open."

"Why are you here?"

"Do you know Tessa?"

"Yes? Why?"

"I need your help?"

"You have a crush on her? _Jem!_ This isn't a good time."

Emma's brother set his violin case and school bag on the floor and shrugged off his blazer, he obviously hadn't been home yet, "No. Nothing like that," he insisted vehemently, "Please listen."

…

20 minutes later Jem left the Blackthorn's house, the three of them having made a plan for Monday afternoon.

Emma turned to Julian again, "Where were we?"

 **A/N: I appreciate nothing much happens in this chapter but seeing as I wrote it, I wanted to post it. Next chapter is back to Tessa. Reviews are cool. Just saying.**


	12. Author's Note

Hello,

First (insert lame excuse for not updating here). Second, thank you to everyone who took the time to click on this story although judging by the number of reviews not many of you will be disappointed by the announcement that I will not be continuing this story. (Sorry, don't mean to sound bitter.) Anyway, I've just lost momentum with it and have no idea where it's going as I only had a vague plan to start with. So maybe one day I will finish it but I thought you might like to know that I sincerely doubt it.

Bye, thanks for reading,

Iridescent-Tears


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